🎙️Podcast | Always-On Connectivity for South African Businesses📡

The "Unbundled" podcast, hosted by Jaco Voight, CEO of Catalytic, featuring Kirthesh and Ronald from Fusion. The episode focuses on the complexities of business connectivity, particularly in the South African context, exploring the current state, common problems, and solutions for achieving reliable, "always-on" internet access, especially for remote workforces.

• Link to podcast | Does ‘Always-On’ Connectivity Exist?

Key Themes & Ideas:

1. Connectivity is Critical:

   The discussion emphasizes that reliable internet connectivity is now a fundamental necessity for all businesses, not just a nice-to-have. Jaco states, "It's such a critical portion of of every business existence now."

   Connectivity is described as "the umbilical cord into into the customer," highlighting its vital role in business operations.

2. The Illusion of Simple Connectivity:

   Many users have a simplified understanding of how internet connectivity works, often believing it’s as simple as “plugging it in and it works.” The podcast clarifies this is far from the reality, involving many steps and potential points of failure.

   There's a common misconception that fibre is inherently the most reliable option, a belief fueled by marketing and consumer experiences.

3. The State of Connectivity in South Africa:

   Consumer Fibre Boom: The consumer fibre market has boomed, driven by the pandemic and the need for reliable home internet. Ronald notes, "The pandemic has been absolutely great for the um consumer fibre market."

   Business Fibre Stagnation: Business fibre, in contrast, has not progressed significantly since 2018. Many businesses are stuck with expensive, inadequate, and sometimes unreliable connections.

   Price and Service Disconnect: Business fibre is often perceived as a "cash cow" for providers, resulting in high prices and inadequate service, particularly in response times for repairs. Businesses often pay for premium SLAs that are not met. "A lot of businesses paying for very expensive fibre lines effectively when they have an event all of a sudden the response in terms of repair is a lot longer. It's no longer taking hours, it's taking days."

   The Rise of 4G/5G as a Substitute: Due to the cost of business fibre, many small businesses opt for 4G/5G routers, despite potentially having access to fibre, due to a perception of similar performance at lower cost.

4. Fibre Reliability Challenges:

   Physical Damage: Fibre infrastructure is vulnerable to physical damage, especially due to third-party work like water pipe repairs. The presenter recounts a personal experience of fibre being physically damaged during water pipe repair work, highlighting how they dig up and damage existing fibre lines.

   "Mafia" Repair Practices: There is mention of contractors deliberately causing issues in water pipes (using bricks) to generate repeat repair business which can also damage nearby fibre lines. Ronald states, "contractors when they are repairing a fault…they put bricks into the water pipe… which the guys can come back later and get repaired and get paid for."

   Load Shedding Impacts: Load shedding significantly impacts fibre networks, with power outages affecting the active equipment in "POPs" (points of presence). Generators are used for backup power, but fuel management issues (lack of monitoring) often result in outages. "Often when the fibre goes down during loading it's because the generator's run out of fuel."

5. Multiple Points of Failure:

   The journey of internet traffic from a user to a server involves multiple steps and change points (potentially 13-14, in the example provided) along two "streams" - infrastructure and the ISP, any of which could fail.

   Failure can be caused by various factors, including load shedding, vandalism, theft, and physical damage.

6. The Business Case for Resilience:

   Businesses must assess the financial impact of connectivity outages, considering both productivity loss and potential revenue loss. "Once you determine a failure is going to cost my business XY Z then you can now as a financial person mitigate and say okay how do I guarantee that this engine keeps oper operating."

   A single connection is a significant vulnerability. Businesses should aim for multiple internet paths.

   The traditional solution of buying more bandwidth is ineffective when the root problem is network outages.

7. The Value of Aggregation:

   The presenters advocate for solutions that "glue" or "fuse" multiple connections together into one combined bandwidth, rather than using failover connections that sit unused. A failure of one link will not cause disruption, but the system continues to work using the remaining connectivity options.

   This approach enables businesses to use 100% of the bandwidth they pay for and ensures constant availability.

   "Get multiple parts and understand multiple parts. Not three fibre connections on the same path outside that's going to be dug up. Three different parts. One in the air perhaps it's fix wireless in the air that's completely separated from where fibre is."

8. The Cloud and Connectivity:

   The move to cloud-based applications has shifted the reliance of businesses from on-premises servers to the internet, making internet reliability even more critical.

   While cloud usage eliminates the need for on-site networks and servers, there is still a risk of complete business disruption if connectivity is lost to the cloud.

   The cloud also complicates IT security with issues such as data privacy and employees accessing the internet using routes that are not managed or controlled by the IT team.

9. SD-WAN Solutions:

   The podcast promotes SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) as a solution. Fusion Broadband is identified as an SD-WAN provider focusing on last-mile connectivity.

   SD-WAN nodes (more than just routers) enhance connectivity through features like:

   Aggregation of multiple internet connections into one combined path.

   Prioritization of critical applications.

   Improved data transfer speeds.

   Data encryption for enhanced security between the business and data centers.

   Visibility and control over network usage and user activity.

   Real-time threat intelligence and protection against modern security threats.

   An SD-WAN solution can be used as a gateway to the internet, providing granular control over where employees connect and what they have access to.

10. Remote Workforce Connectivity:

    Home connectivity is a growing concern with an increasing number of employees working remotely.

    Home routers often have security vulnerabilities (like outdated firmware) and use unencrypted traffic.

    Businesses must recognize that home connectivity is not just a personal concern for employees but poses a security risk to the organization itself.

    The podcast suggests that providing employees with a business-managed SD-WAN solution at home can offer secure and reliable connectivity and reduce the risks associated with home networks. "For me it would be the perfect product to put an edge unit in every employees site."

Call to Action:

For business owners listening, the presenters advise:

• Diversify connectivity: Become "agnostic" about connectivity by using multiple service providers and avoiding a reliance on one.

• Investigate solutions: Explore SD-WAN solutions tailored for their specific business and environment.

• Visit Fusion SD-WAN: They are recommended as an example of a provider, and users can visit fusionsdwan.co.za for information.

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Wrap

The podcast highlights the importance of "always-on" connectivity for businesses, especially in the face of increasing reliance on cloud services and remote work. Traditional approaches to business connectivity are no longer sufficient and businesses must adopt resilient, secure, and adaptable solutions like SD-WANs. Businesses need to look beyond single connections, single ISPs and the idea that fibre is a panacea for connectivity problems. The emphasis is on actively managing connectivity and taking control of their internet access to mitigate the high costs of downtime and ensure operational continuity.

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