10 Steps to a Digital Practice in the Cloud, 2nd Edition

4

Broadband

We placed this as the second step simply because it is a natural extension of your infrastructure strategy. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the IT paradigm is rapidly transitioning to an outsourced model through managed services, data center hosting, software as a service, or a combination. All these new models require high speed data transfer via the Internet, so this will become one of the core components of your IT model going forward. In this chapter, we will explain key concepts related to data communications and provide practical guidance for procuring the best solution(s) for your firm.

Broadband Defined

Broadband can be a relative term. In the context of this section, it refers to the capacity to transfer digital data between two devices. More accurately, it measures the speed and capacity of the data communication service that you deploy to transfer information between two devices. In the world of cloud computing, we use broadband to transfer data to and from cloud-based servers to our local devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and so forth.

The more we rely on the cloud, the more we rely on having secure, reliable, and fast broadband. It is the virtual lifeline of cloud-based computing. The bottom line is that you cannot have too ...