Avoid Bandwidth Overhaul and Security Risks This Holiday Season

With online sales expected to grow 15 percent this holiday season, consumers will be making purchases from a variety of devices and places — including work. While some employers have taken a liberal stance toward online shopping and personal internet use, the holiday shopping season threatens to strain bandwidth capacities to a point that would frustrate even the most lenient of employers. In some organizations, free-for-all bandwidth consumption might lead to an office network crash, hindering not only deal shoppers, but others in the office attempting to — shockingly enough — conduct actual company business. For example, the Huffington Post noted on Cyber Monday last year a peak of online activity at 11:25 a.m. EST, which falls well within the American workday in all U.S. time zones.