Suggestions for maintaining successful and uninterrupted business services.
We host the Bravo application on IBM servers housed in the most protected colocation facility in the United States . We have built Bravo's framework utilizing the most secure technologies available from Microsoft. These are tomorrow’s technology here today. Bravo is the world’s most powerful store operating system, all made possible because of the Internet and more specifically, the Cloud.
There are 2 potential points for failure any time Bravo’s data center sends a result to your store: the Internet and your store. The Internet has multiple routes to get to your store and it travels at the speed of light. It is not fail proof, but it is the most dependable communication link. Bravo’s data packets travel round trip from coast to coast in about ¾ of a second. Light travels much faster than that, but the data packets go through a number of gates to get to your store and back.
- Your router is the first gateway point on your store's end to handle the data.
- Once the data packet passes the router, the next gate is the switch that directs the packet to the correct destination and ensures efficient pathing for the data.
- Your cables and connections can also slow things down if they are more than a few years old.
- If you use a wireless router, the layout of your store, locations of workstations, building materials, and competing frequency can all impede your network performance and reliability.
- Your printers' capacities, as well as whether or not they are limited to black & white vs color printing will make a significant impact on transaction times. Machines with color printing features enabled can take up to 7 times longer.
- The workstations in your store are the final gateways for data as well as its destination. Each computer's memory and processing speed are critical to software functionality, and any other nonessential tasks your computer is executing when the data arrives may slow the speed of transmitting a response to our data center.
IMPORTANT - What we have found in most of our users stores is that the Internet is being used heavily. Whatever the purpose of this usage may be, intentional or unintentional, in the end your bandwidth may be reaching its capacity causing your software performance to suffer. Managers should enforce employee internet use policies to prevent this from happening.
Our first suggestion is to use common sense. If your store is streaming video or using other bandwidth-intensive applications, this usage needs to be managed or eliminated. Some stores are using the Internet for surveillance video applications which use a huge amount of bandwidth.
Our second suggestion is utilize a Network Specialist to access, manage, and maintain your network itself as well as keep your workstations up to date with anti-virus, anti-adware, and anti-spyware programs. Your network administrator may also be able to prioritize your traffic through your router by enabling QOS options.
Another gateway to consider: Your ISP – Internet Service Provider
The ISP that you pay your monthly fees for Internet is a conduit and manager of bandwidth. When new customers in your area are activated, in most cases, your bandwidth needs to be recalibrated. The flow of bandwidth to your store can be affected by the usage of your next door neighbor. All you have to do is ask your ISP to recalibrate your service to ensure you're getting what you should be getting in terms of bandwidth. Bravo requires a minimum internet connection speed (bandwidth) of 15Mbps up and 30Mbps down. Preferred speeds are 4Mbs or better. Here are some additional questions to ask if you think there is a problem:
- Is there any reason today (or during a period where you noticed sluggish performance), that my service has been interrupted?
- Are there any repair services being conducted near or around my store?
- Can you check my connection now to see if you see any issues?
Moore’s technology law is still holding true today. Expect all forms of technology to get faster.
