Future proof your enterprise connectivity with an integrated network 

With so much more business done online, the speed and quality of enterprise networks has never been so vital. In this blog we look at modern connectivity options, and how an integrated approach can deliver security and value.

There’s more business being done online than there’s ever been before – so how can you find the connectivity options that will keep up? 

With ISDN, DSL and 3G access on the way out, Australian businesses can now build a collaborative enterprise that’s future-proof by adopting carrier links, NBN fibre and fast 4G in an integrated way.  

In this blog we’ll look at how the networks of the future will depend on how they’re secured and managed, just as much as they depend on the access technology used to build them.

Assessing the access options 

Your network modernisation journey begins by evaluating the best options for your type of business. In most cases, your optimal network will be a combination of fixed and wireless access technologies. 

• Carrier networks. 
  Traditional telco carriers have mature fibre and ethernet over copper links, which are transitioning to NBN in many areas. These links have the most enterprise heritage and tend to be the most reliable. The use cases for dedicated fibre include traditional VoIP deployments and DR – and, where you want, QoS and redundancy. These MPLS private network links are valuable for corporate sites, but the price comparison isn’t always so favourable.
• NBN. 
  The national broadband network manages a mix of fibre, HFC and VDSL technologies, and it’s now ubiquitous enough that the majority of CBD locations can be connected. The NBN catalogue is not enormous but it is fairly dynamic, as products are added and tweaked as the network matures. The provisioning process can be bumpy as there are different ways to deliver a service over the last mile. There is NBN of various quality available, depending on whether it’s a T2 or T4 link. 
• 4G mobile. 
  4G is an ideal option for failover or a primary connection where fixed line is not available (for example, a mining site). It’s important to understand that with 4G it’s not just a matter of turning on a modem, and as such the choice and installation of the device is important. At Tecala we work with electricians to get the best antenna signal and we troubleshoot any problems that might hinder connectivity. An enormous amount of IP, processes and effort goes into obtaining the best possible 4G signal for customers. 
• 5G.  
  5G is not widely deployed in business, and most customers don’t have the throughput needs to justify it yet. If a customer has a 100Mbps fixed line, having gigabit 5G failover is largely irrelevant. The value of 5G will really shine when it’s used in applications that require it, such as IoT. Once 5G is ubiquitous, Tecala will be able to expand its managed networks to account for this without any issues. 
• Fixed wireless.  
  Fixed wireless remains a niche technology and serves a number of discrete use cases. This is most likely to be part of a future network when there is a clear business case.

Finding clarity with a managed service 

Building tomorrow’s network involves more than speeds and wireless.  

High speed access is getting more democratised and is even at the point where some of the smaller ISPs say customers don’t need a support partner – which is simply not true. In the case of fixed line access, dual links do not always equal redundancy between carriers, and it is easy to make mistakes. 

The decision-making process and balancing access risk is more complex than what it seems.  

A good MSP will be vendor-agnostic in terms of carrier choices, and will choose the most appropriate links for the business at the right price point. 

The real value of the MSP model is that customers don’t need to worry about the connection medium. It comes down to whether you have secure services with quality of service (QoS), and what the service-level agreements (SLAs) are like. All of these sit with the MSP, and with the network in place we can offer SIP solutions for collaboration. 

At Tecala we’re application-centric and we can suggest, implement and manage the network for a customer. Given our partnerships, we generally also have access to more options for networks. 

With cloud connect services in the networking mix, we have the ability to take a private link and hand off to the public cloud environment. Like most cloud connectivity providers, we are not tied to one architecture and are entirely flexible to customer requirements.

Maintaining control, from access to user experience 

At Tecala, we work best when we deploy WANs as part of a wider managed service play to ensure we can control the connectivity and resulting user experience. 

When we can deploy a network over managed links, there is no hand off between the infrastructure provider and the WAN provider – so the customer has just “one throat to choke”. If there is any issue, we own it and resolve it.  

This approach is particularly relevant in the COVID-19 era. Given our breadth of knowledge with  

managed connectivity services and tight integration into the app level of the stack, we can tailor solutions even when there is limited connectivity that will account for high loss and latency. 

We have many weapons in our arsenal and are not limited to the traditional ISP solution of bigger links. 

Any managed connectivity service is only as good as the user experience, and we can monitor the load of remote workers. And in the case of wireless, this is ideally a managed service for end points and managed right down to the user level. 

Networks of the future can provide security, value and benefits for productivity in a world where business is increasingly being carried out online. So how future-proof is your connectivity?