Maslow's Needs Revised For Today's Technology World

Do you remember learning about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in high school? For those who may not remember, Abraham Maslow was the social scientist who wanted to understand what motivated people to action. He believed people possessed a set of “unwritten needs” and, if understood, could explain why a person would make a particular choice. It started with the basics – air, water, food, and shelter. As each need was fulfilled or secured, a person could start working toward personal self-fulfillment.

Recently, I saw this chart on LinkedIn and I couldn’t help but laugh. The person who created this chart knows me pretty well… I am a connectivity junkie. I need continuous access to the Internet or I go through withdrawals.

CONNECTIVITY KILLED THE CAT

Want proof? Here are examples of just how bad my addiction has become:

1. At a family reunion a few years ago, we were staying in a cabin near Mt. Rushmore. Every morning, I would drive my rental car two miles west, pull to the side of the road, and read my email and take business calls. It was the only place I could get a 4G signal.
2. While in New York last year, I walked down 40 flights of stairs rather than get in an elevator so I wouldn’t drop the call I was on.
3. Just a few weeks ago, in-between connecting flights, in a suit and tie, I sat on the dirtiest carpet you can imagine so I could use the only open power outlet for my laptop.

I might have a problem…

Thankfully, I am not the only one with an addiction. It seems the world has decided connectivity is just as critical as food, water, air, and shelter.

WE CAN’T GET ENOUGH

Enough speed. Enough power. We always want more. According to a recent article in Crain’s Detroit Business, “At the rate mobile is expanding, the number of devices connected to IP networks will be nearly triple the size of the global population by 2017. Most of them will connect to these networks to upload or download information—and even faster speeds will be required to keep information flowing without disruption.”

Excited yet? Check out these global connectivity trends:

1. According to Cisco, global consumer Internet traffic doubled between 2012 and 2014.
2. Video is still growing and is overpowering traditional bandwidth. Video made up 64 percent of total Internet traffic in 2014, up nearly 10 percent since 2012 and still growing. Facebook users in 2015 watched four billion videos per day.
3. There are now 2.8 billion Internet users worldwide. In 1995, there were 35 million people on the Internet… (Euromonitor).
4. Bandwidth requirements have been doubling every three years and it is likely to accelerate as new technology is developed.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND

In 2014, Michelle Pluskota from Comcast said, “This increase in speed, coupled with the reduction of bandwidth cost, has opened up a whole new world for SMBs because it enables them to compete with large enterprises in a way they couldn’t do before now. With greater speeds, today they have access to the same tools and technologies that only large enterprises recently could afford. They are able to run applications (including Oracle, SAP, and others typically thought of as “enterprise” applications) that a few years ago they simply couldn’t handle with their slower bandwidth. Furthermore, greater bandwidth at lower cost will continue to be a game-changer for SMBs because of three growing trends with wide-ranging implications.”

There has never been a better time to sell connectivity. Business Internet powers EVERYTHING in business—mobile, big data, voip, cloud services. The list goes on and on.

At FreedomFire Communications, we focus on helping you determine what you need, how much you need, and who can provide it. With more than 200 suppliers, we can find a great fit for your bandwidth and connectivity requirements.  Simply ask us at Network Design Solutions

You’ve heard us say it. Let me say it again: Bandwidth is the new oil.

How To Know If You Need Advanced Cybersecurity Solutions

Since the beginning of 2016, there have been over 4,000 ransomware attacks every day. This means the average ransom demand has risen to $1,077. Along with the threats and the cybercrime out there, when we take a look at the actual traffic of internet it seems to be moving in the direction of spam emails. As of the most recently reported period, spam emails accounted for 60 percent of email traffic worldwide. When you look at the traffic on the internet, 48 percent of it is bots, which is traffic on the bandwidth that's not business related. As threats are building up and new techniques are being utilized to get in on-premise devices have had to increase their security feature set. As companies add these filtering engines and security features, they have to increase the processing speed of these devices which in turn increases the cost of the device and subscription.

OmniNet delivers the next generation of Fortune 500-grade cybersecurity and is the only provider in the market to move the edge of small businesses to a virtual, omnipresent perimeter. Their patented technology delivers robust yet simplified cloud security and eliminates bandwidth pollution, which is inherent to traditional premise-based security solutions. To avoid the usage of on-premise devices, OmniNet has moved everything to the cloud. Now that OmniNet is not limited to an on-premise device they can have the full unified threat management stack virtually hosted in the cloud. They are no longer limited to a box, its processing power or its upfront cost. The OmniNet Cloud is a multi-layered, sophisticated security stack that inspects all traffic at wire speed using up to six industry-leading security engines. All data is tunneled to the OmniNet Cloud to go through a rigorous screening process detecting and blocking any malware, malicious links/content, threats or intrusions. Everything happens in the OmniNet Cloud so that no threats can get close to your network or your data. This rigorous filtering process is applied to both incoming and outbound traffic. Anything going in or out is thoroughly cleaned, and your network is protected.

PRODUCTS

OmniShield is the next-generation cybersecurity solution that extends your company’s perimeter to all your sites while providing omnipresent, enterprise-grade security. It is nextgen tech and does what no traditional, premises-based security solution can do: It is always there, limitless, and virtual. So what are some of OmniShield's Features?

• Anti-Malware: Advanced antivirus and antispyware
• Advanced Threat Protection (ATP): Protects against Advanced Persistent Threats
• Basic Reporting: Weekly email
• Blocking of Embargoed Countries: by the United States and European Union
• Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Blocks attacks
• Malicious Website Protection: Blocks phishing and malware sites
• Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Prevents sensitive data such as credit card numbers from leaving the network
• Suspicious Activity Monitoring: Monitors for any malicious or suspicious activity and traffic
• Firewall: Perimeter defense
• VoIP QoS: Voice Quality of Service
• Website Filtering: Block inappropriate or nonproductive websites
• LAN Separation for Dedicated PCI Network: PCI Compliance
• Denial of Service (DOS): Volume-based attacks
• Botnet (Malware Communication): Defense system
• Application Control: Block nonproductive or dangerous applications

We are never satisfied with bandwidth. When it feels slow, we buy more thinking it will help. Why do MPLS lines cost many times more for a lot less bandwidth? It’s because MPLS takes other important metrics into consideration not just bandwidth. There is latency, jitter, packet loss, stability, control, and prioritization. In most applications, bandwidth is the least important of all these metrics. OmniWAN brings all of the important quality metrics to your existing internet connection, turning your cable and DSL into the enterprise quality of MPLS, without the price tag. OmniWan’s features include:

• Dynamic Adaptation
• Latency and Jitter Control
• Packet Loss Reduction
• Bandwidth Fluctuation Control
• Quality of Service
• Traffic Prioritization
• Fragmentation Reduction
• Omni-Link - Site to Site vMPLS
• Increased Reliability
• Bandwidth Stacking
• Packet Level Link Balancing
• Lossless Failover
• Transmission Security
• Network Connection Monitoring

To learn more about OmniNet, and other options to meet your connectivity and Cybersecurity needs, simply ask at the below link.  It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Connectivity And Cybersecurity Solutions