Dark Fibre Africa, Vumatel’s network downtime highlights need for connectivity strategy

There is no telecommunications company in the country that does not have nightmares about network downtime. But while downtime can impact a telco’s bottom line, it’s the businesses that rely on that connectivity that often face the brunt of the losses.

It’s no secret that purchasing connectivity has traditionally been a grudge purchase, and in the context of the enterprise, it has largely been based on getting the “fastest” connection at the cheapest rate.

And yet connectivity lives at the heart of the success of all businesses, large and small. Last week’s fibre outages on the DFA and Vumatel’s networks have indeed highlighted this. As other uncontrolled factors like load-shedding, inflation, remote working and a myriad other matters have become prevalent over the last three years, the loss of connectivity has burned through enterprise reserves and contributed to many small and medium businesses shutting their doors.

For a sustainable future, enterprise organisations are going to have to look very carefully at how they approach connectivity to ensure their businesses stem the tide of losses and keep seats filled and branches connected when downtime happens.

A strategy designed to mitigate threats, leverage opportunities and build on business structures and other key strategic operations is going to be a key component to sustainable enterprise going forward in South Africa.

It will be essential for businesses to create a strategy that allows them to build in redundant connectivity from alternate infrastructure and service providers that is load-shedding proof and can support existing connections in times of downtime. Connectivity can no longer be viewed through the lens of a simple operational expense, but rather an integral part of a company’s income generation and customer experience, and ultimately, its survival.

With a connectivity strategy, organisations can properly assess whether their connectivity actually supports their business, whether they may be paying for a connection they are only partially using, or simply don’t have the right last-mile technology or enough redundancy to support their operations.

It will determine whether businesses have the right technology, skills and partners in place to properly manage their connectivity and keep key projects, like digital transformation and cloud migration, alive in a time in our country where uncertainty rules and customer experience is the differentiator.

There is no more appropriate time to ensure the future sustainability of your business than now.