Today, connectivity is no longer just about connecting, but about staying connected. It may seem the same, but for a company it is not. Let’s think about a transport operator, for whom a simple interruption in communications goes beyond being left without Internet for a few minutes: it means losing the traceability of its fleet, interrupting services, losing transactions, damaging the user experience and, ultimately, even generating a potential security and reputation problem.
Connectivity is the epicenter of the digital society in which we live and a capital element for business. Today, practically everything we do needs constant connectivity, since the mere interruption or slight saturation of that connectivity can generate disruptions that are difficult to solve in the short term. Sometimes, these disruptions will become even permanent damage, affecting not only the service or normal operations, but even the security of the data, harming users and, irreversibly, companies.
However, despite the vital importance of connectivity in today’s world, it is not always given due attention. We often look at increasing bandwidth or reducing latency. It is desirable, but it cannot be the only goal: the real key is operational continuity. And, in this scheme, resilience is the determining factor.
Resilience: the key to connectivity
If the networks on which the digital ecosystem is based are not resilient at all levels, including cybersecurity to protect this digital operation and the users who use the services, the consequences translate into examples such as not being able to pay with a card in a store, not having access to our own location to know the way to our destination or even not being able to protect our home or our business due to having left the security cameras that protect them ‘blind’. In fact, without connectivity there would not even be passenger transport as we know it, since the current mobility model is intelligent and connected, a trend that will only grow in the future with the arrival of connected vehicles.
Again, here it is not (only) about having Wi-Fi on board the bus or on a plane, but rather about preserving the ecosystem that makes it possible for both that bus and that plane to reach their destination at the scheduled time. Beyond that, and on another level, it is this connectivity that allows companies to manage their fleets of vehicles, thereby ensuring that stores have stock because the delivery vans have arrived on time or that emergency services can respond to a call.
Interoperability to eliminate disruptions
The mobility of people, goods and capital is something that is part of Europe’s DNA and that the world has understood as essential for social and economic development. But, in an environment where the vehicle can cross different coverage areas along the same route, depending on a single operator means taking an unnecessary risk. Especially when this risk can be mitigated with technologies such as multi-operator IoT SIMs, which allow maintaining service continuity by only changing between the different available networks without friction, reducing the risk of service interruptions. It is just one example of how technology contributes to preserving that much-needed operational continuity. But it is not the only factor to take into account.
In parallel with the protocols and connection systems, attention must be paid to the hardware. And the greater complexity of the ecosystem requires betting on solutions where resilience is not only operational, but also physical. Here, the durability of the devices, their ability to be updated and a design oriented towards security and scalability must be the key factors that allow companies and users to opt for solutions that last over time, especially in critical sectors such as transportation or logistics, which become networks and ecosystems in themselves that feed other sectors and businesses. If the mere jump from one connectivity provider to another already represents a bottleneck and a reason for disruption, having to replace physical devices every so often due to their inability to update or converge with new realities will represent an even greater challenge for the continuity of any business. Resilient solutions in all possible areas are the winning horse, and the interoperability and compatibility of devices and networks becomes a key piece for a more efficient and sustainable model.
Connectivity in the center
We must understand that connectivity is not an extra service that we can modulate or configure for our clients, but a basic need for society. A pillar as essential as having electricity or hot water. Connectivity is an infrastructure, not a whim. It is a central and transversal element of the digital world, not a fashion or an accessory to be more comfortable. Without connectivity, there is simply nothing in the digital world. But this connectivity must be designed from a security perspective so that its undeniable and necessary benefits are not overshadowed by its inherent risks in the digital world.
The mobility of people, goods and capital is something that is part of Europe’s DNA and that the world has understood as essential
As in all infrastructure, quality and its good condition are essential factors for it to be operational and serve the interests of the user. If the infrastructure fails at any point, your mission will be compromised. And if this failure occurs in the field of security, reputational damage will become the most obvious result, with the legal implications that this entails in environments subject to regulations as strict as the European one. Hence, connectivity must be designed and managed with cybersecurity as the axis and reason for being, applying different layers focused on both the detection of anomalies and the protection of the ecosystem through the management of identities and accesses of both users and professionals.
In this sense, cybersecurity tools based on the early detection of threats through the use of AI and proactive approach become a key piece to provide connectivity processes with resilience that adds to the already mentioned operational continuity and hardware robustness. They are three pillars for the same purpose: deploy, maintain and promote connectivity ecosystems adapted to the needs of the 21st century and of companies in critical sectors such as industry, transportation or telecommunications.
Let us not forget: connectivity cannot be taken for granted, but we can continue to promote connected ecosystems that respond to the needs of the present and the future by caring for and improving physical and digital infrastructures that avoid unnecessary friction, areas without coverage and drops in essential services. Connectivity is the glue of the 21st century and the enabler that makes the world we know possible. And only an IoT service provider that fully understands this new paradigm can offer scalable, customizable and quickly adaptable solutions to the changing environments that have become the norm.
Alayn Endaya Medallo, Marketing Manager of Wireless Logic Spain
