Digital infrastructure is the technological foundation that supports the digital operations of businesses, governments and society. We explain how the right digital infrastructure can transform your business and why connectivity is critical.
What is digital infrastructure?
Digital infrastructure is the physical hardware and software-based technologies that enable digital services. It includes the IT systems and networks that enable organisations to operate and communicate.
Among the key components of digital infrastructure are:
- Hardware: Computers, mobile phones, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, servers, etc
- Software: Operating systems running computer hardware and apps
- Networks: Physical and virtual networks, from copper or fibre-optic cables in the ground to local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs) and the internet
- Data centres: Facilities housing servers and networking equipment to store, process and distribute vast amounts of data
- Cloud computing: Services delivered over the internet, including cloud storage, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
- Cybersecurity systems: Software and physical security measures protecting all levels of digital infrastructure
As the backbone of today’s global digital economy, digital infrastructure underpins all aspects of a connected business’s operations.
Why is digital infrastructure important for businesses?
Businesses rely on digital infrastructure to work efficiently and compete in increasingly connected global markets.
In addition, emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI), 5G and IoT, are driving consumer demand and transforming how businesses are run. Yet digital transformation can’t happen without the right digital infrastructure.
In other words, digital infrastructure is critical for companies to operate, innovate and grow. In today’s digital economy, it could make or break your business.
What are the benefits of digital infrastructure?
Digital infrastructure offers numerous potential advantages for businesses, including:
- Speed: Ultrafast, fibre connectivity can enable you to communicate and collaborate faster, responding in near real-time to challenges facing your organisation.
- Efficiency: Digital technologies allow you to make your company’s processes more efficient, saving you time and money.
- Innovation: Automation and AI-powered tools enable you to innovate more quickly, meaning faster time to market for your products or services.
- Flexibility: Cloud-based digital infrastructure gives you the agility to deploy new systems quickly to react to changing market conditions.
- Scalability: Digital infrastructure can be highly scalable; start small and scale up rather than risk a large upfront investment.
By optimising your digital infrastructure, you can enhance the experience for employees, partners and customers, setting up your business for growth.
What is the future of digital infrastructure?
Predicting the future evolution of digital infrastructure is challenging, but here are three emerging trends to watch.
5G, 6G and beyond
The expansion of 5G mobile networks and the introduction of next generation 6G are set to deliver faster, more reliable mobile connectivity. These new standards are likely to herald new applications and services.
However, they’ll require upgrading digital infrastructure with high capacity, low latency core connectivity to cope with the resultant data explosion.
Cloud and edge computing
Cloud services and edge computing are already changing digital infrastructure. By accessing on-demand services in the cloud, businesses can improve the scalability and flexibility of their digital operations without upfront investment in hardware.
Similarly, edge computing allows organisations to move data processing closer to the source of data generation, enhancing latency and efficiency and supporting the growth of 5G and IoT.
Automation and integrating AI
Automation and AI are poised to transform digital infrastructure. Automated ways of working are already helping to streamline operations and improve overall efficiency and reliability.
In the future, we can expect to see all kinds of AI-powered solutions in networking, from design and provisioning to maintenance, optimisation and cybersecurity.
Why is connectivity critical for digital infrastructure?
Over the last decade, the rise of smartphones, data analytics, hybrid working, 5G and IoT devices has fuelled an explosion of data.
Today, networks must adapt to ever-greater volumes of data as IoT, AI, and other emerging technologies take off. Meanwhile, hybrid cloud and edge-enabled networks are increasingly complex, with multiple interlinked components and data sources.
That’s why implementing the right connectivity is critical for your business’s digital infrastructure.
How Neos Networks can support your digital infrastructure
At Neos Networks, we aim to provide high capacity, low latency connectivity for UK businesses to thrive, whatever the future brings.
We offer a range of networking solutions to help you grow your business, from business Ethernet services and Dedicated Internet Access to Optical Wavelengths and Dark Fibre.
If you’re looking to upgrade your connectivity to transform your business’s digital infrastructure, get in touch.
