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Connectivity strategies for multi-location enterprises aren’t as cut-and-dry as IT teams would like. An increased reliance on the cloud, video conferencing, and other high-bandwidth functions makes choosing the proper internet connection imperative.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all internet solution, there are two main options: broadband and dedicated internet access (DIA). Both offer connectivity but vary significantly regarding performance, cost, and reliability.
The article below defines DIA and broadband and their utility for each business type. You’ll learn their key differences and which solution best suits the enterprise’s needs.
What is broadband?
Broadband is high-speed internet access through digital subscriber lines (DSL), cable, and fiber technologies. Multiple customers share these connections, leading to slower speeds during high-traffic hours.
Businesses of all sizes use broadband internet because of its accessibility and affordability. It’s generally most appropriate for retail, hospitality, real estate, and food service industries.
Take the average restaurant, for example. Business operations like online reservation portals, point-of-sale devices, payroll and accounting, and vendor sales typically all rely on broadband.
What is dedicated internet access (DIA)?
Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) is a private, dedicated connection with bandwidth guaranteed. The service solely addresses the needs of a single customer, ensuring consistent speed and performance at all hours.
For instance, a national financial institution with multiple locations will often choose to deploy DIA to secure the transmission of bank transactions, loan applications, and real-time credit checks. Delays or outages for these services result in detrimental loss of revenue, customers, and reputation.
What is the difference between DIA and broadband?
The biggest differences between DIA and broadband are their performance speeds and costs. Consider broadband as the public highway and DIA as a personal fast lane. DIA provides dedicated bandwidth, symmetrical upload and download speeds, and lower latency than broadband.
DIA is the better option for applications requiring high bandwidth, real-time connectivity, and consistency. Broadband costs less, but speed and performance fluctuate. Broadband’s weaknesses are most noticeable during peak usage times.
Is DIA the same as fiber?
DIA is not synonymous with fiber. DIA and broadband use fiber optic cables for service delivery. Fiber technology transfers data through light as opposed to its DSL and cable competitors, which use electricity.
Fiber broadband is the fastest connection of all broadband types, offering speeds exceeding 1 Gbps. However, only DIA guarantees these high speeds at all times through a private fiber connection.
Which businesses need DIA?
Certain business functionality and performance calls for DIA. Companies running mission-critical applications with high bandwidth requirements benefit most from this connection type.
It’s especially common in the healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and education industries because downtime, security, and reliability issues for these businesses severely risk continuity. In addition, the size of the company—and consequently, the number of connected devices—affects DIA needs.
For example, a major hospital network requires significantly higher bandwidth, security, and speed than a construction company.
What’s the best internet for multi-location enterprises?
The best solution for multi-location enterprises also depends on several factors. The size and nature of the business, budget, and bandwidth requirements will influence the optimal connectivity choice.
Consider security needs, scalability goals, and user expectations as well. Data centers always need uncompromised connectivity and security, making DIA necessary.
Using broadband and DIA for different locations is often the most cost-effective solution. A hybrid approach delivers the appropriate connection for certain kinds of operations.
For instance, high-profile spaces such as enterprise headquarters or call centers need DIA. Smaller satellite offices can utilize broadband with no lapses in productivity.
Ultimately, effective connectivity depends on the successful partnership between the enterprise and its providers.
Conclusion: Know the connectivity your enterprise needs
The decision between broadband and DIA comes from the enterprise’s needs and priorities. DIA and broadband are both valid solutions for enterprise connectivity.
Making an informed decision is rooted in understanding their differences and evaluating the enterprise’s connection requirements. Consider bandwidth needs, application requirements, costs, and specific location infrastructure.
Industry also plays an important role. Large operations dealing with highly sensitive information, cloud-hosted applications, and mission-critical communications require DIA service.
A hybrid approach is financially and operationally practical. Some offices may benefit from DIA while others find broadband meets their needs. The bottom line is that every enterprise is different, and there’s no universal answer to internet service decisions.
Advantage’s team of experts will help you assess your enterprise’s unique connectivity needs on a location-by-location basis. Discover how much time your enterprise can save across daily global operations with a partnership that services every pillar of enterprise connectivity.