How important is technology diversity really?
Sander Barens
Chief Product Officer
When we talk about “technology diversity”, we’re talking about the different ways to connect a business. Which could mean using wired and/or wireless access services. It’s crucial to distinguish this from network diversity. This involves using a mix of ISPs and diverse last-mile connections to ensure your business remains online at all times. Even if one connection fails.
Both work to achieve the same goal:
- Keeping your business online.
- Connected to its applications, sites and services.
- Generally operating.
Network diversity is an excellent way to protect infrastructure connectivity. This is because many businesses opt to work with multiple carriers or ISPs to safeguard against network downtime. This strategy is designed to ensure vital business uptime. But relying on multiple carriers alone can introduce certain risks. Why? Many carriers still use the same shared backbone infrastructure. So, if a primary wired connection is disrupted—say a cable gets cut or damaged—both your main ISP and your backup last-mile solution could fail simultaneously, leaving your business vulnerable to costly downtime.
To mitigate such risks, a technology diversity strategy is essential. This approach focuses on leveraging a variety of technologies to ensure the network remains resilient. After implementing technology diversity, companies can add layers like network diversity. Or even full path diversity, which ensures multiple WAN entry points into any given site for greater redundancy. This combination of strategies can provide a rock-solid defense against network outages and connectivity failures.
What is technology diversity within your networks? Why is it important?
Many issues can cause network outages that disrupt business operations, especially for multinational companies that rely on extensive networks. These outages may arise from physical issues like hardware failures, cell towers being damaged, or cables being cut. Other times, software bugs or network congestion can result in loss of connectivity. To effectively prevent downtime, it’s critical to have a level of technology diversity integrated into your network infrastructure.
One proven strategy is to implement full-path diversity, where one or more carriers physically secure service continuity through independent connections. This method ensures that if one pathway goes down, another remains operational. However, an even more powerful and flexible option is to integrate wireless broadband technologies alongside your physical infrastructure. This introduces additional layers of diversity.
Wireless options offer more flexibility and are often more cost-effective. Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is fast emerging as a flexible addition to traditional wired connectivity because it introduces technology diversity into the network infrastructure. Unlike traditional wired connections, FWA doesn’t rely on vulnerable cables that could be damaged or cut. Instead, it uses wireless signals transmitted from cell towers to deliver high-speed Internet to your business. Bypassing the need for a physical connection. This added layer of technology diversity can be especially valuable in rural areas. Where high-speed Internet via wired connections may be less reliable or even unavailable.
FWA is increasingly popular because it provides greater flexibility and is often more cost-effective than maintaining redundant wired systems. Whether your business is in an urban or more remote location, Fixed Wireless Access introduces line-of-sight connectivity. Which can be critical when traditional methods fail. In fact, FWA has become a rapidly growing alternative for businesses that need high-speed Internet with reliable failover options to ensure they remain connected during unforeseen disruptions.
What makes Fixed Wireless Access a good failover option?
Affordability, high speeds, IoT integration, flexible communications and network security are key reasons why FWA is emerging as such an attractive alternative for delivering connectivity resilience and securing uninterrupted digital engagement for customers, employees, and partners.
Qualities such as flexibility, agility and cost efficiency make Fixed Wireless Access a compelling technology diversity option. It also brings that added resilience to businesses that need reliable failover with global coverage to mitigate outages. FWA has the further advantage of giving companies the ability to quickly spin up services and locations quickly. Helping them capitalize on new growth opportunities.
6 key qualities that make FWA a compelling failover option:
- Affordability: Compared to traditional wired alternatives, FWA offers cost-effective solutions that can be scaled based on your specific business needs. It allows companies to avoid the costs associated with installing and maintaining physical infrastructure, especially in rural areas where laying cables can be expensive and time-consuming.
- High speeds: The speeds offered by modern FWA solutions have vastly improved, thanks to advancements in wireless technology, including the advent of 5G. This makes FWA a powerful backup option capable of supporting bandwidth-intensive tasks like video conferencing, cloud computing, and data transfers.
- IoT integration: With the increasing number of devices connected to the Internet of Things, businesses need a reliable connection that supports both primary and secondary internet service needs. Fixed Wireless Access integrates smoothly with IoT networks, enabling seamless communication between smart devices without any disruptions.
- Flexible communications: FWA isn’t just about failover. It can also be used to support day-to-day operations, particularly in settings where wiring infrastructure is either unavailable or too costly to install. Its flexibility makes it easy for businesses to scale operations without being limited by the availability of wired networks.
- Network security: Security is a major concern for businesses today, and FWA solutions come equipped with advanced security protocols that protect data and applications. The inherent diversity that wireless connectivity provides makes it harder for a single point of failure to disrupt the entire network, thus reducing the risk of cyberattacks or breaches.
Interested in making your network more resilient with technology diversity?
The share of enterprise sites using 5G as a primary or backup network is set to grow from 1% in 2022 to 10% in 2025. What started as a way for smaller businesses such as shops, restaurants, and cafes to secure competitively priced backup connectivity was rapidly seized upon by enterprises as a workable alternative for connectivity failover in multiple offices. Instead of having an always-on second line, Fixed Wireless Access only kicks in when needed.
For businesses looking to ensure continuity, Fixed Wireless Access should be a central component of their technology diversity strategy. By integrating FWA into your network, you add redundancy and create a robust failover solution that kicks in only when required. This ensures that everything from cloud storage, productivity tools like Slack and Teams, VoIP phone systems, intranets, and external communications, to your websites and customer services, all remain operational—even during a network disruption.
Incorporating FWA into your business continuity plan helps secure high-performance Internet access while minimizing the risk of outages. Moreover, wireless broadband is essential for locations where traditional wiring is impractical or unreliable, such as in rural areas.
By exploring our solutions, you can discover how Fixed Wireless Access can be embedded into your network infrastructure as a critical part of your business continuity strategy. Whether you’re looking to support day-to-day operations or strengthen your disaster recovery plans, FWA offers a dependable option that works in tandem with your existing infrastructure.
Ready to Future-Proof Your Network?
For technology leaders looking to drive business continuity, FWA should be a core part of your technology diversity strategy. It cannot be overstated the importance of FWA as a redundancy and an always-on solution that kicks in when needed. Allowing you to continue to do business.
Read our brochure to learn more about how Fixed Wireless Access could be embedded into your network as a part of your business continuity strategy.
Alternatively, you can talk to our expert team about your needs. We will help you identify, design, build, and manage the right combination of solutions to solve them.