By Andrés Irlando, President of Zayo Group
The COVID-19 pandemic was a significant inflection point in the decades-long process of digital transformation. One day the office was packed and meetings were happening over lunch in the conference room. The next day, we were figuring out Zoom backgrounds and preventing our kids from running into the home office mid-presentation. Businesses had to shift online overnight to keep operations running. For some, it was their first time digitizing operations on a wide scale; for others, it sped up a gradual process to implement technology for working together while apart.
Virtually no industry was left untouched by the sudden transition from digital transformation to digital acceleration. For example, in business process outsourcing (BPO), nearly 50% of new contract agreements now include at least one digital component. Where BPO typically offered basic task automation, it is now providing a more sophisticated approach with services like AI and machine learning. In healthcare, remote patient monitoring (RPM) is revolutionizing doctor-patient communications and multiplying in popularity; by 2025, nearly 71 million patients will use RPM technology for essential purposes like continuous glucose or blood pressure monitoring.
These emerging technologies and others collect troves of data – sometimes multiple terabytes – from end-users at the edge and transport it back to the core. That data empower businesses to evaluate consumer behaviors, implement new applications and design AI models that lead the company forward; they must travel seamlessly, quickly and securely. For that to happen, organizations need the power of a cloud-based infrastructure that enables “anywhere operations” and can transmit edge-to-edge, edge-to-core, edge-to-cloud and everywhere in between. And for the cloud to do its job in enabling enterprise-level digital strategies, it needs to run on high-capacity, low-latency networks. Fiber connectivity offers the flexibility, reliability, scalability, and agility to connect an ever-evolving and expanding web of digital connections.
Before we dive into the benefits of fiber connectivity, let’s look at the cloud and its benefits for the modern business world.
It’s Getting Cloudy – And That’s Good
Cloud infrastructure is at the heart of digital acceleration. With transformation happening in days or weeks instead of months or years, the cloud can deliver services anytime and anywhere to support quick adoption of emerging technologies. Cloud infrastructure underpins innovation with numerous benefits:
- Delivers long-term cost-savings
- Fosters seamless collaboration
- Hastens disaster recovery
- Introduces massive data-processing capabilities
- Facilitates software-enabled applications
Cloud adoption continues to grow, especially as the cloud continues to support the expansion of the edge. 92% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy, while 82% employ a hybrid cloud approach – with cloud networks powering IoT, 5G, predictive analytics and more, cloud-native operations will become table-stakes for enterprises.
However, none of this will be possible without the power of high-throughput, low-latency fiber connectivity.
Fiber Does It All
Fiber-based optical networks connect data centers between clouds, data centers at the edge, and connect clouds to each other. While traditional legacy infrastructure like MPLS was the reliable choice for enterprises, today’s digital transformation calls for solutions that can scale and flex as necessary without losing consistency.
Depending on your organization’s needs, two types of fiber connectivity – dark and lit – can support an expanding network with increased connections.
Dark Fiber
Dark fiber essentially future-proofs and puts total control in your organization’s hands. With dark fiber connectivity, your organization owns, maintains and operates the infrastructure, which means end-to-end visibility into network performance and stronger security. It enables Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM), which increases capacity, diversifies your network and is crucial to running your network. Plus, dark fiber is cost-effective when scaling to your needs because of the fixed CapEx cost structure.
Lit Fiber
A lit route is widely accessible, offering turnkey fiber connectivity to get your organization up and running at the speed of light – literally. When looking to minimize your organization’s administrative and technical burden, lit fiber offers a fully-managed service, transitioning IT from a cost-center to a profit-center working on critical strategic initiatives. When speed of adoption and ease of use are business imperatives, lit fiber is the answer.
Build a Smart Digital Strategy Today
By now your organization has a strategy to navigate the digital transformation. But it cannot be cookie-cutter, because you have different needs than your direct competitors and organizations in other industries. There’s a difference between having a plan and having a smart plan. Putting your organization in the best possible position to win now and in the future starts with the following four steps:
- Evaluate the current market drivers and consider future trends
- Review your business model for opportunities to digitize
- Build a digital strategy that transforms your organization’s operations
- Match that digital strategy to a cloud strategy
The future of the enterprise is in the cloud, and the future of the cloud is enabled by fiber connectivity. Your competitors are building the right infrastructure for the times ahead – are you?
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrés Irlando is President of Zayo Group. He has extensive experience as a senior executive and commercial leader in the communications infrastructure industry. Previously, Andrés spent 15 years at Verizon, holding a variety of senior leadership roles.
