Have You Got Enough Bandwidth To Last Beyond The Olympics?

Olympic City, UK

If you’re spending any time in London at the moment, it impossible not notice the amount of construction work that is underway. This ranges from the number of high profile buildings that are being built (such as The Shard, and The Cheese Grater, The Bishopsgate Tower), to an above average number of roadworks projects that are underway to ensure that the capital’s roads are not being dug up during the 2012 Olympics that opens on July 27th.

How Does September Sound?

So what does the Olympics have to do with the bandwidth capacity of my London office? Essentially, with amount of construction work that is presently underway in London, combined with the Olympics “Change Freeze”, if you’re in any doubt about your bandwidth capacity requirements, you need to ensure that your order is placed very soon, otherwise you may be looking at September before you get the increase in bandwidth that your organisation needs. This is almost certain if your increase requires additional fibre or cable to be laid to your building.

A Summer Like Any Other Summer?

The 2012 Olympics take place from the 27th of July through to the 12th of August, with the Paralympics opening on the 29th August and closing on the 9th of September. During this time, there will be be a far greater number of visitors coming in and out of London, a large number of whom will be using public transport, mobile phones, and other potentially constrained services. This may make it difficult for your staff to travel to the office, or to client sites in London. There is also the likelihood that your staff may view the Olympics coverage using streamed TV services. All of these (and other) issues can obviously be managed but they should be planned and prepared for and put in place and not a reactionary measure.

These Problems are Just About the UK

Some of the issues do relate just to the UK, and perhaps just to London, but the Olympics is a global event, and is going to stress the Internet globally, with more TV coverage being streamed than ever before. Our recommendation is that at the very least you have a clear policy on non-business use of bandwidth (at all times, but especially) during the Olympics, this will help staff understand what is acceptable and unacceptable use.

Your Next Steps

If you need help assessing your organisation’s bandwidth capacity, or want to ensure that your organisation and its infrastructure is best prepared London 2012, no matter where your organisation is based, then please feel free to ask a question of Fifth Step’s Virtual IT director team or our Business Continuity team who will ensure you’re on the right path.