Bad Digitization – @shutterstock | bluebay
Ever-faster data networks, increasing digitalization, and software and hardware that give us a powerful Internet of Things, whose diverse possibilities could make our biggest tech dreams come true. But what happens when the network of tomorrow's digital world fails or even collapses? A situation that many users are likely already all too familiar with.
Whether it's laying thousands of kilometers of new fiber optic cables for hyper-fast 1 Gbit/s internet, erecting base stations for mobile 5G data transfers, or continuously developing the software architecture that manages data streams – everywhere, hard work is underway to create better conditions for the digitized world of tomorrow.
These efforts are essential, as comprehensive connectivity in the Internet of Things requires networks that far surpass what is currently available to businesses and individuals in terms of speed, coverage, and reliability.
All those self-driving cars, autonomously ordering grocery refrigerators, and drones that automatically deliver coffee will be anything but a mere utopia in just a few years. Unfortunately, what happens when the infrastructure fails is far too often overlooked. And you don't even have to look to the future, because even today, providers and users of digital content are constantly confronted with technical glitches that severely impact the online experience.
This is something to consider when developing new virtual and digital solutions. After all, what good are the best programs or apps if they lack reliability? For this reason, Trends always incorporates troubleshooting into its projects. Because nothing is worse for customers than software crashing at the worst possible moment, with no alternative in sight.
Of course, digital specialists can't prevent a network blackout. However, they can ensure that users are as prepared as possible for such a situation. This includes raising customer awareness that, despite seemingly ubiquitous online availability, the internet can still crash. It's better to be prepared.
When clients and agencies want too much
Technical blackouts are just one problem area in the development of increasingly high-performance, and therefore more vulnerable, IT projects. Furthermore, many solutions are developed without regard for real-world conditions or are designed with excessively tight deadlines. In fact, clients and agencies often try to do too much at once instead of focusing on a few core competencies. Cases where the commissioned, supposedly all-encompassing app or system software isn't ready in time for the presentation are therefore more the rule than the exception. The result is that the client has to settle for a dummy version that could do many things but can't do many. While this is already frustrating enough during internal presentations, it becomes a serious problem during external presentations at trade fairs or roadshows. The Trends team therefore always considers the available timeframe in its projects. When in doubt, the goal is to develop the best possible, viable solution, rather than trying everything feasible and risking having to present the aforementioned dummy version.
Technical infrastructure is often suboptimal
Besides network timeouts and breakdowns, as well as immature prototypes, there's another factor making life difficult for users: despite numerous announcements from politicians and network operators, there are still too many black spots on the map where the internet age seems to have yet to arrive due to poor network coverage. Those outside major metropolitan areas are therefore sometimes cut off from the modern online world, or can only access it with difficulty. When developing digital solutions, the significant quality variations between cities and more remote regions must definitely be taken into account. Otherwise, there's a high risk that a concept presented in Munich, Hamburg, or Berlin won't work at all, or only inadequately, for the customer or end user in rural areas.
Digital infrastructure is often suboptimal – @shuttersthock | HongtaeStocker
However, the difficulties of problematic reception are not limited to the fluctuating network quality across Germany. There is also a great deal of work to be done on the part of professional providers. One only needs to look around any trade fair to see how poor the online solutions currently offered are. The list of shortcomings ranges from insufficient speed and automatic throttling after exceeding a certain data volume to permanently overloaded networks. This is a nuisance for visitors, but especially for exhibitors, who are thus only able to present their sophisticated digital trade fair presentations to a limited extent – all while incurring extremely high costs for rented online access.
The Xpert.Digital knows from experience that focusing on all the promising future opportunities shouldn't obscure the current problems and shortcomings of the online world. Therefore, when advising on and developing new digital products and services, in addition to defining the best possible solution, they always consider availability in the event of system and network outages.
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