Technology is constantly changing and evolving and increasingly boundaries of performance are set by the network. A poor level of connectivity can really thwart a business’ operation, yet are businesses sometimes responsible for failing to consider it?

Connectivity and the infrastructure are seen as a utility similar to gas and electricity, a must for businesses to have, yet a somewhat unexciting poor relation. Even though it is in demand, its intangible nature means that it’s rarely focussed upon until it becomes the wall for a business’ operation.

Before companies look at the many developments in software and cloud based services they must first figure out can the foundations actually support it. Do they have the infrastructure to support a change? Have they considered the costs of that change? It becomes central in an entire investment decision. It’s a cost to upgrade the network infrastructure but without it being right, things just don’t work.

As innovation moves forward it requires more reliable connections, ones that flex with the business. As most business & consumer products are Internet driven, it’s all dependent on high speed and reliable connections. The bright new world of the Internet of Things (IoT) just drives this need further.

Companies have and do drive headlong into new technologies yet ignore the foundations. It’s not only the Internet or other network connections that they fail to consider.

Office Wi-Fi is a perfect example. Ever more used and demanded of, it is by its nature, a limited technology compared to the network cable plugged into your computer. Wireless connections have a much lower limit before bandwidth problems strike compared to connecting in by wire. When things in the office struggle to perform, the Internet or the “network” is blamed, but the expectancy is sometimes too high and the infrastructure is not capable.

We work with companies who ask us to help with their connectivity and the diagnosis is often that they are demanding too much from a limited network. It is easy to see why this can happen; the transfer of consumer-based marketing and perception into the business environment. ‘My WiFi works better at home’ is an occasionally heard cry of despair. Laptops today no longer come with the network socket as a standard item like they used to. It’s a new world of sitting anywhere in your office, or another office and just pressing go. It’s the epitome of flexible working. It is a great image but try doing it in an office of twenty people all serviced from the Wi-Fi on a broadband router.

Aging, as well as insufficient network infrastructure, is a common problem for those who want to take a step forward. If you are bringing in new ways of working, new software or new online capabilities, take the time and effort to look at the pipes, both wired and over the air, they are carried on. It may cost to make it better but it is a lot less painful than struggling because it was not considered when other investment choices are made.