As the COVID-19 pandemic has made its impact felt worldwide in 2020, businesses have reassessed things they once took for granted. Corporate leaders are taking a close look at everything from their staffing needs and health and safety protocols to their policies on remote work.
They’re also paying closer attention than ever to network optimization. With so many people working from home – or in some cases, splitting time between home and the office on a flex schedule – it’s crucial for companies to have strong networks that can support a range of different types of traffic, both on premises and not.
Consider this. According to a recent Network World report, overall data volume has increased dramatically since before the pandemic began. Data from Verizon showed that there’s now 19% more data being transmitted on U.S. networks than there was prior to this spring. This puts a significant burden on companies to support the increase in traffic.
And according to Kyle Malady, Verizon’s chief technology officer, we’re not likely to see that traffic level decrease once COVID-19 dies down. On the contrary – it’s expected to continue at sustained higher levels, even as stay-in-place restrictions begin to lift and people start returning to their offices.
“We believe all trends point to sustained network usage at this higher level for the foreseeable future,” Malady said.
In other words, recovery from COVID-19, while it is absolutely encouraging to see, does not in any way negate the need for a robust corporate network. Even if some or all of your employees are returning to their offices, you still need to have a strong network infrastructure in place to support your workforce. If you stick with your legacy infrastructure, you’re may have challenges such as gaps in security and trouble with apps that require a lot of bandwidth such as video conferencing.
At Zones, we offer a vast range of IT solutions designed to ensure your network stays strong. With Enterprise Networking, we offer a comprehensive set of services ranging from design and implementation to ongoing maintenance. With Wi-Fi Networking, we can help you fortify your network so it can handle a greater volume of connected devices and offer a truly great user experience. And with SD-WAN, we can make sure your people are ready to maximize all their applications, even during this turbulent period.
We specialize in Network Optimization. Our services are designed to streamline everything you do with data – storing it, sharing it, using it to meet your business objectives every day.
Ready to explore our Network Optimization offerings? We’ve got plenty of resources for you.