When you’re running a business, the last thing you need is to experience issues with your internet provider. Most businesses nowadays rely on being connected for a whole variety of reasons, which can include running your business management software, handling customer accounts, automating tax calculations and keeping track of your revenue. It doesn’t matter whether your business has solid foundations or whether you’re a start-up, if you’re not allowing technology to simplify your day to day business activities, you almost certainly soon will be.
Being dependent on the internet to run your business may seem daunting, but rest-assured, technology is only keeping tabs on the boring stuff. It’s still your competitive edge and customer service that’s really going to keep your company ticking. However, at the end of the day, it’s going to be a huge benefit to you if technology can simplify all the behind-the-scenes tasks given that it will allow you to focus your attention in addressing customer needs and getting your employee’s up to the task of attracting sales and providing high quality service.
So, potentially more cash in your pocket, increased staff productivity, and the boring business tasks handled automatically; technology has provided businesses with an invaluable way of maximising our work efforts. The scary aspect of it all is that you’re trusting an internet provider to uphold its promised services to a high standard so you can uphold yours.
For those who are not so tech-savvy, here’s a quick breakdown in the form of an over-simplified lesson on how this all works. You’ll be using business management software that requires a decent and uninterrupted internet connection. You find an internet provider with a great reputation and subsequently depend on their connectivity promises to keep your business ticking. Your connection depends on the safety and maintenance of their servers, both factors of which are completely out of your control.
Just a heads up, choosing a different method to the aforementioned is possible, can minimise downtime risk to business, and the migration over to dedicated Windows servers is easy. But before we tell you more about that, here’s why it’s not too clever to put all your trust in your standard home internet provider.
The Risks
- Business Downtime
If you lose your internet connection, it’s going to disrupt your business activities. Your great business management solution efficiently handles most areas of your business, but without a connection, it’s pretty much defunct. With servers located off-site, you can never really sure of the safety of your connection. The problem may be unlikely, but the harm it can do to your business is hardly worth the risk. Remote servers may be subject to weather conditions, staff incompetence or even, at the worst, terrorism. Having your own dedicated Windows servers significantly reduces this risk (more on that later).
- Non-Business Use
A fast internet connection for the family by a reputable provider is usually more than sufficient. You might have five users sharing bandwidth, but a decent connection will keep the family entertained. Plus, worst comes to worst, a loss of connection is only going to disrupt the family’s entertainment. It won’t equate to you losing unnecessary revenue due to business downtime. However, when you’re in your professional mode and you’re trying to get things done at work, you really don’t need your internet speed hampered by staff watching videos and downloading large files at work. Bandwidth prioritisation is something that rarely comes with most internet packages – least not for your business-specific needs.
- Low Bandwidth
We’ve already touched on other people stealing your precious bandwidth, be it family or staff members, but when using a home internet connection, it’s likely you’ll be battling everybody in your neighbourhood for high connection speeds. It might not usually be a problem, but you may have noticed that during peak hours, connections can start to run a little slow. Peak hours can often mean business hours and your company may be open all hours of the day; it’s unlikely your operating hours fall perfectly in place at the times when fewest people are trying to browse the internet.
It’s completely vital in the modern workplace to have a reliable, fast and business-prioritised connection during working hours. A reliable connection ensures you and your staff can provide product descriptions quickly – along with any upsell or cross-sell opportunities – save customer queries and details, log sales into your system for quick tax calculations on top on many, many more things. In short, reliable servers can help you increase profits and enhance customer service. So, how can you minimise the risks outlined above?
The Solution
Minimising the risk to internet problems is easy; simply choose a trusted provider to install and maintain dedicated Windows servers on your property. That way, you get peace of mind that your server safety is in your – and your trust supplier’s – hands. That’s not even the main benefit.
- Minimised Risk to Downtime
Having your own server is almost like having your own private internet connection, so the chances of experiencing downtime are significantly reduced. It is literally only you and your business that will be utilising your servers. Reputable providers will be able to give you a guarantee of connection on your server’s side – remember, they still have to connect to the World Wide Web, so problems can still occur. But you’ll have peace of mind that the chances are very slim.
- Business-Use Prioritisation
Servers can be configured to prioritise your connection for business needs over social needs. This means that your staff can still enjoy browsing their favourite websites on their breaks, but their needs will come behind the needs of your business.
This article introduced just some benefits of dedicated Windows servers, but there are a heap more as well as many options for you to choose from. Make sure you speak to a reputable supplier with all of your enquiries.
