Connectivity, the heart of digital transformation

With faster and more reliable connectivity, enterprises are in a better position to support business functions across global locations.

Driven by a relentless increase in the use of digital technologies and the addition of almost one million users per day, global data networks have grown exponentially over the last few years. The volume of data is also surging, with Cisco pegging annual global internet traffic at a staggering 278 exabyte per month by 2021.

The network is not limited to faster downloads or quicker consumer access to the latest streaming media either. With faster and more reliable connectivity now available, enterprises are in a better position to support business functions across global locations, or to tap into disparate pools of IT resources that are spread across geographical regions.

Employee performance is also improved as teams brainstorm over videoconferences, or work on digital whiteboards or documents in real time. And instead of having to step into the office, workers can access enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems to quickly confirm an order from their clients’ offices. Within the IT department, data backups can now be routed across multiple sites for maximum data survivability, and key stakeholders can easily access data repositories even when travelling.

Notably, customer experience is substantially improved with the ability to leverage resources across branch offices, or in helping organisations respond promptly to their customers. Indeed, businesses can offer 24/7 coverage with just a handful of call centres by rerouting calls through IP networks, while consumers can easily track the status of their packages or make a query without having to call in.

As businesses turn to digital transformation to compete, the importance of the network is further amplified due to the ability to tap into multiple resources, as well as the greater assurance gained from faster, reliable networks. Specifically, software-defined networking (SDN) technology now makes it possible to rapidly provision and modify network configurations from an accessible web interface.

Implemented properly, an SDN abstracts the inherent bottlenecks stemming from the limitations of physical cables. While the underlying infrastructure is still required, the virtualisation of multiple cables into a virtual conduit offers much greater flexibility akin to how server virtualisation facilitates the seamless migration of workloads between physical servers.

SDN is ideal for addressing modern enterprise realities, which requires agility in IT to support rapidly evolving business functions. This gives businesses the ability to rapidly scale bandwidth during expansion phases, or to throttle it down during lull periods. This also increases speed to market, as business units tap into self-service capabilities to roll out new service offerings in days rather than weeks or months.

Elsewhere, organisations looking to the cloud to support their IT needs can also leverage new network offerings – powered by SDN, for private, preferential connectivity to the top public clouds. This gives businesses the assurance that performance issues or intermittent data errors will not result in hard-to-detect problems or even trigger a cascade of failures.

While an overhaul of existing legacy infrastructure can help businesses reap maximum benefits from the power of SDN, many of the advantages it offers can be readily accessed through Singtel DC Connect service. Designed as a seamless interconnect between data centres and leading cloud platforms, it is managed from a centralised management platform to give enterprises the needed agility to innovate faster and serve customers better.

Enterprises can easily tap on a robust and dynamic network pipe into a growing network of 15 Singtel and partner data centres, as well as the top public clouds without compromising on the security and high-availability requirements of mission-critical applications. And because it offers a usage-based model with bandwidth starting from 10Mbps and in billed hourly blocks, enterprises pay only for the bandwidth they need.

Singtel DC Connect can be deployed within three working days at supported locations, and is currently available in Singapore. The service is also scheduled for launch in Hong Kong and Australia soon.

To find out more, download the brochure here.

Learn more about Singtel’s data centres and our services