Companies are stepping up their efforts to slice and dice their data network's bandwidth to ensure that critical work flow isn't hampered by employees' ceaseless demand for greater Internet access.
With heavier files jamming the network, some employees in need of critical business applications are given more capacity on the data network than those with less pressing business need. Organizations see it as a necessity in order to achieve the right type of experience.
The problem of clogged networks has been exacerbated by the widespread use of streaming sites, such as Netflix and Pandora, and by employees tapping into corporate Wi-Fi to listen to music, watch video and use social networking sites on their personal devices — even if it's during breaks.
The issue is particularly urgent for global or national companies with far-flung branches. Candy maker Cadbury, a Kraft subsidiary, chose to manage the network used by its global offices more extensively after an audit found that 55% of its traffic was recreational, says the chief marketing officer at Exinda, which was a consultant to Cadbury. Each office now gets prioritization based on size or contribution, says a local Houston IT Services company.
At Georgia Southern University, game videos used by the football team or video-based student learning applications get priority over videos shared by students. Almost every company has a heat map of what it considers is important.
XO worked with a movie studio that has marked special network priority for video files that are delivered from movie production sites to post-production digitization studios. Another XO client sends its buy and sell orders on an entirely dedicated network so that they are processed in a timely way.
While some companies even manage their bandwidth based on hours — more and faster Internet access for those who work at night — others lower the amount of bandwidth assigned for phone calls in the evening. That way, large data files can be transmitted quickly and seamlessly when fewer people are making calls on the corporate network. Companies want to ensure that data delivery takes preference over trivial internet processes, like buying shoes at Zappos.
For more national and worldwide related business news, visit the Peak News Room blog.
For local and Michigan business related news, visit the Michigan Business News blog.
For healthcare and medical related news, visit the Healthcare and Medical blog.
For law related news, visit the Nation of Law blog.
For real estate and home related news, visit the Commercial and Residential Real Estate blog.
For technology and electronics related news, visit the Electronics America blog.
For organic SEO and web optimization related news, visit the SEO Done Right blog.
