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Today, a good business needs a good internet connection. It’s a fact. But choosing the right business broadband package can be confusing and making the wrong choice could end up costing you a lot more in the long term. Whichever packages you are choosing between, this article will take you through the five main considerations to make when you are choosing a new business broadband package. What Is Your Current Data Usage? A good starting point is to look at how much data your business is currently using. Take a note of your average data usage over the past quarter and use this as a benchmark for the minimum amount of data your business broadband package will need to provide. You should also be aware that more and more data is used every year by businesses so you will want to have the capacity to use more data in the future than you are currently using. Check the Service Level Agreements Every business broadband provider should have a service level agreement (SLA). This governs, among other factors, the acceptable amount of downtime on the plan (this should always be under 1% and ideally as close to 0% as possible) and the maximum response time in the event of any problems. Always check the small print to see if the SLA matches your business’s requirements and ask questions of the supplier is you are unsure. Optimise Your Cloud Service More and more small businesses are relying on cloud services. If this is the case for your business, ensure that your new business broadband provider can facilitate a cloud-based approach to data storage. Some providers will offer plans specifically catered to cloud services users. Consider The Available Bandwidth Productivity in the modern business world is often bottlenecked by bandwidth, which determines how much data can send and receive at once. The ideal business broadband package will have a bandwidth utilisation of less than 50% to allow for space capacity to handle peaks. Check for Bundles and Deals There can be large savings available by combining your services into a single package from single supplier. Consider if there are other services offered by the business broadband provider, such as telephone lines, VoIP systems or IT support that would also be beneficial to your business. Many managed IT support providers also provide broadband, so it is always worth seeing what savings are available by combining services. Customer Experience/Reviews Word of mouth is a vital resource for choosing any broadband package. Whatever the provider promises, consider asking around other business owners you know, checking the provider’s reviews or asking for feedback from LinkedIn. Make sure that their real customers are receiving the service they promise. These are the main points worth considering when choosing a business broadband package. You should always double check with your IT department and bring a member of your IT team with you to any sales meetings to ask the more tech-related questions.