{"id":7987,"date":"2014-11-24T23:12:33","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T23:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aerocominc.com\/?p=7987"},"modified":"2017-05-31T15:18:20","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T22:18:20","slug":"the-math-behind-getting-fast-business-internet-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/the-math-behind-getting-fast-business-internet-access\/","title":{"rendered":"The Math Behind Getting Fast Business Internet Access"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"network<\/a><\/p>\n

In the last 15 years, I\u2019ve sat in front of thousands of IT Directors and Systems Administrators of companies and discussed whether or not they should spend more money for a faster Fiber Internet connection or a back-up Internet connection for their company.\u00a0 They always want it but they almost always say its management that doesn\u2019t want to pay any more than they\u2019re currently spending.<\/p>\n

Although I\u2019ve heard this many times, I\u2019m going to tell you a secret\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019ve NEVER had the guts to tell you my 100% honest opinion, face-to-face, in fear that you will think I am \u201ctalking down to you.\u201d\u00a0 People take a lot of pride in their decision making and in a one-on-one scenario, a \u201cstupid salesperson\u201d like me can easily tick off an IT Director if I\u2019m telling him\/her how to make decisions.\u00a0 In those moments, I am always willing to bite my tongue, keep the relationship strong and let the person do whatever they felt was right for their company.<\/p>\n

But TODAY, I\u2019m coming clean. I\u2019m going to tell you what I think because it\u2019s not aimed at one person, so you can\u2019t take it personally.<\/p>\n

As a business owner myself (who is cutting payroll checks), I can tell you this decision is ridiculously simple and it\u2019s an easy math equation.<\/p>\n

Fifteen years ago, when I was working as a salesperson for XO Communications<\/a><\/span>, they taught us that in order to know if a client is a good fit for a T1<\/a><\/span> line vs. DSL, the $1,000 question (literally), was \u201cWill your business lose money if your Internet connection goes down?\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, that is an absurd question.\u00a0 Nearly every employee in your company uses your Internet connection, every minute of every day to do their job.\u00a0 If your Internet connection is fast, they will do more work in less time.\u00a0 If it is slow, they will do less work.\u00a0 If it goes down, employees lose a ton, if not all of their efficiency.\u00a0 I would argue that the Internet connectivity is tied with a computer for the MOST ESSENTIAL ITEM an employee needs to do their job properly.<\/p>\n

So to figure out if you should pay for a faster Fiber<\/a><\/span>, Business-Grade Internet connection or a back-up Wireless Connection<\/a><\/span>, etc., you simply have to do some math.<\/p>\n

How many employees do you have?<\/em>\u00a0 Let\u2019s say 100 for easy math.\u00a0 Let\u2019s also assume that your current Internet connection is costing you $1,000\/month and employees are complaining it\u2019s too slow.\u00a0 Rule of thumb is that you need to at least double your Internet speed to actually notice a difference, so let\u2019s assume you\u2019re considering upgrading to a $2,000\/month connection for 3x the speed (to make absolute sure your employees have plenty of speed).<\/p>\n

In reality, you are looking at the decision of whether or not you should pay $10\/employee or $20\/employee.\u00a0 Would management be willing to increase the pay of each employee $10\/month if it would result in more work getting done?\u00a0 OF COURSE THEY WOULD.<\/strong> I can guarantee that if you explain it like that to your management team, they won\u2019t blink an eye.\u00a0 That is speaking their language<\/span>.<\/p>\n

On a similar note, you can also do the math in the other direction and see how much you are paying in lost<\/em> efficiency from a slow Internet connection.\u00a0 If your average payroll is $40k\/year, you are paying $333,333\/month in payroll.\u00a0 If your employees are even 1% less efficient with a slow Internet connection, you are losing $3,333\/month in efficiency<\/strong>, so you paying $1,000\/month for a faster Internet connection will increase your profit ($3,333 \u2013 1,000 = $2,333\/month profit).<\/p>\n

You can do the same math if you are looking for a back-up Internet connection, based on how much efficiency your company is losing per hour of Internet downtime.\u00a0 Based on the same situation above, you would lose $1,923\/hour of downtime if your employees cannot properly function without an Internet connection.\u00a0 Not to mention opportunity cost of any business is lost resulting from the outage.<\/p>\n

Much of business is basic math and many businesses fail because they are not looking at the math.\u00a0 This is how I see it but I\u2019m always surprised at how few companies see it this way.<\/p>\n

Am I wrong?\u00a0 What do you think about my opinion?<\/em><\/p>\n

About the Author\"mikesmith\"<\/strong>
\nMike Smith is the Founder and President of AeroCom and has been immersed\u00a0in the business telecom and cloud industry since 1999. He\u00a0has been the recipient of numerous industry awards and in 2011, he was honored as one of the top 40<\/a><\/span> business people in Orange County, CA., under 40 years old. Mike is passionate about simplifying\u00a0the way IT buyers shop and select telecom and cloud solutions for their company. Follow Mike\u00a0on LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a><\/span> or SpiceWorks<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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Want to see a map showing all business fiber ISP’s that are\u00a0installed near your office?<\/span><\/h5>\n