Enhanced service: Helping businesses optimise their telecommunications network requirements through a managed programmable network.
The future in enterprise connectivity calls for greater bandwidth flexibility
AS information continues to empower the expanding industrial revolution 4.0, companies will continue to seek digital solutions, making it their most pressing priority.
This stems from the need to leverage colossal amounts of data generated by apps, social media, IoT devices – and an unending number of sources.
In the website Data Age 2025 Massachusetts-based marketing research company International Data Corporation predicted that digital data would have reached 175 zettabytes in just five years.
If these were saved onto DVDs and stacked, the accumulation would result in a tower tall enough to circle the world 222 times.
As more telecommunication connections produce data, these connections are of vital importance – a task too crucial to be left to traditional networks.
Attuned to needs
Even a broken clock, as the saying goes, tells the right time twice a day.
Likewise, your amount of allotted bandwidth may occasionally – though coincidentally – be the exact amount you need.
The rest of the time you are paying too much or receiving too little.
That’s because for enterprises, getting the right amount of bandwidth is a balancing act that weighs saving costs against maintaining performance.
The highest bandwidth plans come at a stiff price and often tie companies to rigid multi-year contracts.
So, what does a company do when its rate of bandwidth consumption varies seasonally, on different days of the week, different times of the month, or for special events?
Do these businesses lock themselves into an expensive plan to prepare for periods that require more bandwidth? Or forego performance (and perhaps even availability) with a lower bandwidth plan?
Programmable network
It goes without saying that businesses will benefit hugely from a more flexible option.
A communications service provider with an enterprise-grade, programmable network takes lose-lose choices (such as, cost control versus growth) off the table by enabling both cost efficiency and performance on demand.
In Malaysia, the programmable network operated by telecommunications provider Maxis supports features, such as bandwidth on demand.
This enables enterprise customers to sign up for download speeds fast enough to meet their typical day-to-day requirements, then request temporary upgrades when needed.
This alone takes the dread out-of-schedule events – such as during systems back-ups, which gobbles up bandwidth and slows down regular operations.
For unpredictable events resulting in sudden bursts of bandwidth utilisation, such as an organisation forced to work from home on short notice, scaling up quickly to ensure business continuity can be a lifesaver.
Organisations with seasonal needs profit as well; hotels can increase bandwidth during holiday seasons, while universities can ensure students are provided with high-speed internet access during the school term.
At the same time, companies can learn a great deal about their network needs.
Maxis provides enterprise customers with full visibility over their company’s internet utilisation, both fixed and mobile.
An intuitive dashboard allows customers to check daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly utilisation within any range of dates they determine.
All this is made possible with the support of a programmable network.
But not just any programmable network.
Meeting global standards
The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) is a global federation of network, cloud and technology providers.
Through its MEF 3.0 CE certification programme, MEF sets standards for internet services by telecommunications companies.
To be awarded the MEF 3.0 CE, a telco must fulfil criteria that demonstrate world-class capabilities in scalability, reliability, quality, management, and standardisation of service.
So far, only 33 telcos in the world have earned this gold-standard accolade in internet services.
Maxis is one of those telcos, leveraging its network and services to bolster Malaysia’s businesses and economic potential.
Boosting responsiveness
A traditional network is not ‘broken’ of course, but it is inflexible.
And if last year proved anything, it is that resilience depends on a company’s ability to react quickly.
But it is not good enough for your telecommunications provider to allow for temporary increases in bandwidth if such requests take days to approve.
What companies need is a way to request and receive these temporary upgrades in as little time as it takes them to log into their account, specify the amount of additional bandwidth, dates and duration, and click.
Services that run on programmable networks excel at this, thereby allowing companies to respond immediately to both expected and unexpected changes to demand for bandwidth.
The in-built flexibility of a programmable network also serves strategic goals; the ability to increase bandwidth means companies can adopt new digital technologies as they need them, without worrying whether it will slow down other operations.
Assured performance: The exclusive MEF 3.0 CE certification sets internet service standards by telecommunications companies, of which Maxis is an award holder.
Focus on business goals
As more businesses rely on digital technologies, a secure, dependable and agile network provides not only resilience, but a competitive advantage.
The in-built flexibility of a telco’s programmable networks frees companies to shift their focus from the complex technicalities of upgrading their network, allowing them to concentrate fully on building better business strategies, seizing opportunities and satisfying goals.
To learn more about the Maxis Programmable Network and discover how an agile, enterprise-grade connectivity can help grow your organisation further, visit business.maxis.com.my/mpn today.
