The MegaPath Connectivity Blog

Tomorrow, Americans  all across the planet will celebrate Thanksgiving.  We will sit down with those closest to us, break bread and celebrate and give thanks for all that we have.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for providing us the opportunity to serve them, to thank our partners for working with us throughout the year on delivering managed solutions that keep everyone better connected, and to thank the members on the team here at MegaPath for making this a great place to work.

I would especially like to thank everyone who will be at work tomorrow. Many of our customers will be open for business, providing needed and valued services to both businesses and families, whether they are a restaurant hosting the family gathering, or a convenience store staying open so you can get that gallon of milk. Folks will be working here at MegaPath, too, as engineers will be monitoring communications and security from the Network Operations Center.

I am glad and thankful that I get to take this moment to reflect on all the we at MegaPath have, and to think ahead to all the we can and will do tomorrow, to the solutions we will create, the value we will deliver and the future we will build together.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Holiday Retail Season is fast approaching, and smart businesses are preparing themselves to be able to better compete for the consumer’s dollar. The NPD Group has released their 8th annual survey, and the outlook for this holiday season indicates that consumers will be spending less, which they say reflects the overall state of the economy.  However, there are various factors that will come into play, and the top 10 items consumers intend to buy as gifts remain apparel, toys, movies, books, electronics, accessories, music, video games, fragrances and food.  The National Retail Foundation has released its eHoliday survey results, and they indicate that they expect many consumers may spend more of their money shopping online, indicating just how competitive the holiday retail season will be this year.

Black Friday, of course, will continue to kick off the biggest shopping weekend of the season.  Retailers need to be ready this year to handle these transactions securely and efficiently.  Consumers expect a fast transaction, and don’t want to wait for their credit card to be authenticated over a dial-up network as they stand at the register.  Stores with MPLS VPN connections from the right partner will have an advantage, as they are able to more quickly and more securely process the transactions their customers are making.  Not only will they improve their bottom line by saving money over those competitors who continue to use old-fashioned networks, but by working with MegaPath, they can be connected to a PCI compliant network (pdf) that  processes transactions over a secure payment extranet, directly connecting retailers with credit, debit, gift and loyalty card processors.

The bottom line is that retailers are looking at a competitive holiday retail season, and it is important they head into this busiest time of the year with a great game plan, great partners and secure solutions that will improve their cost position.  By working with MegaPath, they will have a partner with many years of experience in the retail sector, who can bring to the table Nationwide Broadband Coverage, who will serve as a Single Point of Contact, who has a Comprehensive Product Set, providing Secure Information Transport and a Managed Implementation, with 24/7 Proactive Customer Support, all with Best-in-Class Service Level Assurances.  MegaPath Sales & Marketing teams also assist franchisors with communication programs designed to help ensure network implementations are consistent across the franchisee organization.

Most people, if asked, could tell you that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a busy time for the retail industry, with everyone doing holiday shopping.  But did you know that Halloween, the day before Thanksgiving, and Superbowl Sunday are incredibly busy days for the Pizza industry?  Papa John’s tells us these are the three busiest days of the year for them.  So, as you can imagine, it is crucial to these businesses that they stay connected to their customers on these days.  This year, Papa John’s will have more then 20,000 drivers  out delivering over 900,000 Pizzas on Halloween! 

In this day and age, Pizza is ordered on-line as often as it is ordered on the phone.  These on-line orders are received at the Papa John’s website, and then are sent to the local restaurant over the WAN, where the Pizza is prepared for fast and fresh delivery.  They know that if that on-line experience goes well, they will see return on-line orders.  These orders are only convenient and profitable if they get through!  To make sure this happens, they know that they need an infrastructure that can handle the dramatic increases in ordering activity they see at these critical times, and that they need to work with a partner who can handle the load, and keep them connected to their customers.

Any industry that sees seasonal spikes (such as retailers between Thanksgiving and Christmas, or candy and flower vendors on Mother’s Day) can benefit from implementing a network that can scale to meet demand, while providing secure, continuous communications that keeps them connected to the customers and partners.

Having a fully managed solution allows these companies to focus on their core competency (such as delivering truly  great Pizza), and not worry about keeping thousands and thousands of sites connected during a busy time. MegaPath’s customers know that we are here 24-7-365 making sure things are going smoothly, and they know they only have one call to make, no matter where in the country their business is located. 

Well, I need to get home.  The Pizza I ordered on-line will be arriving in about 20 minutes, and I don’t want to keep my Papa John’s delivery driver waiting.

Back on August 3rd, the Commonwealth of Virginia sponsored a ‘Telework Day’, and it was a huge success.  Over 4000 people telecommuted , and for 22% of them this was the first time they had ever done so, according to a report by Telework Exchange.  The report estimate thats over 155,000 miles weren’t driven that day, which means that a lot less pollution got into the environment as well.  Respondents to the survey also indicated they were able to get more done by teleworking, and both workers and managers reported they were pleased with results of the event.

Your business should look into telecommuting as well, to realize the cost savings and see the productivity gains that are available.  Don’t forget that a telecommuter plan can also help your company with business continuity, in times of natural disaster or during a health crisis.  It also doesn’t hurt that you can generate more than one type of Green with telecommuting.  Make sure you speak to the right partner when developing your program for connected workers.

NetworkWorld is reporting that Cisco says it has saved $277M by having employees work from home.  Their internal study found that not only did having employees work remotely save money, but it increased productivity and the happiness of the work force.

The company estimated that about 20,000 employees telework 2 days of the week, and about 60% of those spend the time saved by telecommuting working.

You can find out more about telecommuting, and how it can save your business money while increasing productivity,  at Telecommuter.com