Poor connectivity issues affecting wide area networks (WANs) between UK businesses could lead to a significant drop in productivity, a new report suggests.
A survey by Iomart.com found that companies with 10 to 49 offices have more network problems than others. Most of the time, it's the mid-level employees who fight, including security engineers. With only 3,1% of CEOs reporting connectivity issues, they are the least frustrated of all.
Among those facing connectivity issues, the majority are frustrated by slow application response time, hampered business performance, rising costs, and poor adaptability. More than half of the respondents also reported connection problems with other offices.
Frustrations with the WAN
The report concludes that with WAN-related frustrations on the rise, employees may turn to insecure networks as a solution, especially employees who work from home. This is extremely risky for businesses as it exposes them to a wide range of threats.
However, almost half of companies (45%) are not looking to introduce secure Internet connectivity into their corporate network, further increasing risk, says Bill Strain, director of iomart.
"While businesses may be reluctant to invest in network security due to cost concerns, the security implications of an unstable network could prove catastrophic if breached," he said. .
"Remote workers are more vulnerable to breaches such as ransomware (opens in a new tab), viruses, or hacking because critical office security measures are less likely to be implemented. Investing in secure connectivity will help minimize potential threats from actors malicious actors and improve productivity and business performance in the long term.”
Iomart's full report is available at this link (opens in a new tab).