In 2016, 77% of UK companies suffered a business broadband outage that affected day-to-day operations and significantly impacted profitability. In fact, it’s estimated that these outages cost the British economy, on the whole, a whopping £7 billion in lost productivity. So how do you survive an outage and create a strategic continuity plan to ensure your business experiences minimal damage?

Tips for Dealing with a Broadband Outage

Downtime can be very frustrating for an organisation, but there are some ways that you can reduce the negative impact that a business broadband outage has on your business. What it all comes down to is flexibility, and identifying effective ways to relieve the pressure on your own internal network.

For example, you could focus on the benefits of mobile, making use of 3G and 4G dongles connected to a compatible router that enables multiple, simultaneous connections. While this is certainly not the most cost-effective method, what it does do is pick up the slack in an emergency and give employees a bit of a buffer, making it possible for them to contact clients and make alternative arrangements for contingency.

Another way to survive a business broadband outage is to look into implementing a flexible or remote working policy, ensuring your vital staff members have everything they need to successfully undertake their duties from their home, or from any other place with an internet connection, such as a coffee shop. The best way to do this is by using cloud computing, enabling data to be accessed from anywhere.

Reducing the Risk

The average business suffers 4 to 5 outages each and every year, with some waiting 6 hours or more for an adequate fix. While we can’t prevent downtime, what we can do is reduce the risk. Here’s how:

1. If you’re a home-based business who is still using a residential broadband service, then now is the time to switch. Business broadband services are usually more reliable, with more uptime.
2. It’s worth checking how your existing internet service provider fares in terms of uptime and comparing ISPs to see if there are more reliable providers who provide services in your area.
3. Have you thought about service level agreements? These ensure your ISP takes responsibility for maintaining a decent uptime statistic, so take a look at what SLAs are offered by different ISPs.
4. If outages are occurring very frequently, why not consider a service that is, on the whole, much more reliable than business broadband, such as a leased line that’s dedicated to your business?
5. Don’t be tempted to put all your eggs in one basket. Even if you have a reliable leased line, it’s always worth having a low-cost backup connection, even if it does run at a snail’s pace!

If you need more information on how to avoid business broadband outages or are interested in finding the business broadband prices, just complete our form and we will get back to you with a quote!