While companies used to rely on copper cable, fiber optics has become the standard for business connectivity. Statista predicted that by 2018 the demand for fiber optic cabling will rise to 325 million fiber kilometers, a significant leap from the expected 280 million fiber kilometers in 2015.
Companies that have been using fiber optics for a while may have forgotten about the disadvantages of using copper cable. They may have become accustomed to lower latency and stronger, more consistent signals. Organizations that use fiber optic networks experience 
increased productivity made possible through faster uploads and downloads of even the most complex files and documents.
As these advantages become routine, companies are taking fiber optic connectivity for granted. Organizations need to stop being complacent and start exploring some of the opportunities created by fiber optic networks.
Here are 3 doors to digital transformation that fiber connectivity opens:
1) Better Cloud Performance
Fiber optics provides the speed and reliability your business needs to get the most out of cloud services. The quality of cloud services your business receives depends on the type of network that supplies your internet. Cloud performance varies; with some networks, latency can occur when data is moving from your on-premises data center to a public cloud.
A fiber optic network enables information to move quickly and reliably from your data center to the cloud where it can be processed by applications running there. With fiber optics, information is translated into bursts of light that travel long distances along glass fibers at astonishing speed.
Lower latency improves the level of user experience for customer-facing applications. An uninterrupted flow of data allows your company to gain real-time insights from analytics applications running on a cloud platform.
2) Increased Communication Opportunities
Fiber optics can revolutionize the way your business communicates, allowing your employees to collaborate more freely. With fiber optics, your company can implement voice over internet protocol (VoIP) for telephony. VoIP uses fiber optic connectivity to ensure crisp, clear call quality. Fast input/output speeds conquer the jitters that make phone conversations frustrating and difficult to follow.
VoIP digitalizes audio so your telephony can become part of a unified communications (UC) system. Voicemails can be translated into text messages or emails so employees can access them on any device. Telephony becomes part of an integrated suite of communication tools that has centralized user management.
With UC, employees communicate with each other, customers, and clients using a variety of tools, including instant messaging, web conferencing, and team chats. UC encourages business collaboration by offering file sharing and version control.
3) Reduced Risk
The resilience and security of fiber optic connections give your company the confidence to explore new ways of doing business. As companies rely more heavily on data to make important decisions, they need to explore new ways to source information and safely transmit it.
For instance, when organizations take on internet of things (IoT) initiatives, they gain rich sources of data. However, they also risk exposing tons of data to loss or compromise as information moves from sensors and beacons to the data center to be processed.
Using a fiber optic network lessens the level of risk during data transmission. While copper cables can be hacked into, the glass fibers used in fiber optics can’t be intercepted without being broken. The resulting disruption alerts the user of a breach.
Fiber optics is also more resilient during a natural disaster. The cables can withstand temperature changes, immersion in water, and extreme pressure. Because information travels using light instead of electrical pulses, a fiber optic connection resists electromagnetic and radio signal interference.
Exploring the Potential of Fiber Optics
Companies use tools every day that require the fast connectivity provided by fiber optics. As long as your connection is working, you may be satisfied, unaware of the transformational possibilities created by fiber optics. A fiber optic network can lay the foundation for expansion of cloud services or increased business collaboration by providing greater performance and reliability.
FirstLight provides fiber optic network services that encourage the growth of your business. Our extensive fiber optic network provides the bandwidth and speed you need to meet your business goals. We also guarantee quality of service (QoS) levels for reduced packet loss, latency, and jitter. When you partner with FirstLight, you can feel confident about exploring ways to use your network to transform your business.
Is your business exploring the full possibilities of fiber optics? Let FirstLight show you the way.
