Why should your business consider switching to 10GB ethernet?

If you’re of a certain age, you’ll probably recall the ‘joys’ of dial-up internet access: painfully intermittent modems connecting with noisy skronks and screeches, followed by slothful browsing speeds of 56 kilobytes per second.

Back then – as you waited several minutes for a single web page to load – the idea of a connection that ran at 10 billion bits per second would’ve sounded like science fiction. But in 2022, such lightning-fast 10GB connectivity is now both possible and affordable.

That’s not to say, however, that 10GB ethernet connectivity is commonplace, exactly. A majority of businesses still rely on ‘traditional’ ethernet connectivity, which maxes out at 1GB. That’s still pretty speedy – just not blazingly so.

If your business currently uses 1GB internet, you may feel like upgrading to ten-times-faster connectivity would be overkill. And – for the moment – that may well be true. But there are several key points to consider 10 gigabit ethernet when weighing up the best business connectivity services to suit your organisation’s changing needs.

Uninterrupted connectivity at unparalleled speeds

It barely needs stating at this point, but the pandemic has dramatically and permanently changed our ways of working – and connecting. To understand the scale and extent of these workplace shifts, TalkTalk Business commissioned Savanta, an independent research agency, to survey 623 IT leaders from UK businesses.

Unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of these IT leaders – 95% – said that their organisations had suffered with connectivity issues over the last 18 months. Most of these issues were related to remote or hybrid working.

The top three most common connectivity issues, according to these IT leaders, were: 1) video calls lagging or dropping out; 2) difficulties in accessing non-cloud-based business systems remotely; 3) difficulties in accessing cloud-based systems.

Remote/hybrid working isn’t the sole cause of connectivity issues, however. Within businesses that rely on on-premise connected devices – CCTV or payment tills, for example – 27% reported experiencing connectivity problems with this equipment over the last 18 months.

Businesses of all types and sizes are finding that 1GB ethernet isn’t providing the lag- and glitch-free connectivity it once did. The recent explosion in bandwidth usage – driven by growing reliance on data-intensive applications – is leading to widespread bottlenecking. And this ravenous data consumption shows no sign of slowing down: almost three-quarters of survey respondents – 73% – predicted that their connectivity needs would expand over the next 18 months, with 92% predicting that their business would need 10GB connectivity within the next five years.

To steal a famous line from Jaws: We’re gonna need a bigger boat.

Productivity goes up, and profitability along with it 

It goes without saying that problems with data-intensive applications such as video meetings have a negative impact on productivity. When employees are gazing upon a crawling download-progress bar or the ‘spinning wheel of death’ on Zoom, they’re unable to make the best use of their time at work. Remove these problems and they can get more done in a day – simple as that.

But it’s not just that 10GB ethernet connectivity does away with productivity-killing problems. Ultrafast connectivity also presents a business with productivity-boosting opportunities. It opens the door for far more powerful cloud-based applications and far more expansive storage.

Employees accessing these shared services, routed through company systems, will be able to do so seamlessly and speedily. And bigger and better tools can lead the way to heightened productivity.

As you’d imagine, 10GB ethernet connectivity costs more than 1GB ethernet connectivity. A great deal less than 10GB cost just a few short years ago – when 10GB connectivity was mostly the preserve of the military and specialist computing firms – but still: more than 1GB.

The inherent ROI, however, becomes more attractive with every passing month. As outlined above, there are the increased productivity opportunities that come from expanded server capabilities. And there’s the elimination of revenue lost to embarrassing lags and traffic bottlenecks.

Moving forwards at 10 billion bits per second

As enterprise-level businesses migrate more and more of their operations to the cloud – by embracing web-only platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Google Workspace – their traffic is only going to increase. Hand-in-hand with this steadily rising tide of traffic is the inherent drive to grow. After all, no business has grand ambitions to shrink their operations.

Growth that relies on the cloud is, at some point, going to require 10GB connectivity. And so by proactively adopting 10GB ethernet now, an organisation can comfortably future-proof itself. A 10GB-connected business has scalability, agility and resilience at its core, and can handle whatever opportunities and challenges the coming years may bring.

10GB ethernet may be the future, but there’s no reason why you can’t have the future right now. 

Making the best decision for your business 

Hopefully, the key points above have helped you to compare your current business connectivity with the fastest internet connectivity that money can currently buy. So – how does switching to 10GB ethernet appeal now?

Get in touch with us today by giving us a call on 03301 625 738. Or alternatively speak to us via email.