RWC final offers chance to test video capacity

Local businesses have the perfect chance to test their networks’ capacity to cope with spikes in demand caused by online video, according to web security and WAN optimisation specialists, Blue Coat.

Although the day after the match is, thankfully, a public holiday, employees arriving at work on Tuesday will no doubt still be keen to discuss the match, and either relive the glory moments or pick apart contentious plays (think the infamous French forward pass from 2007).

Rajeev Mitroo, managing director of Blue Coat ANZ, says this is exactly the type of event that can lead to a ‘video flood’, where business networks become overwhelmed by video demand.

"Businesses should use every major sporting and news event to test their network and prepare for the building tsunami of video,” Mitroo says.

Chief executives and IT managers need to be sure news and sports events can’t take over business-critical bandwidth, Mitroo says.

If usage nears peaks on Tuesday, bosses need to consider making operational changes such as blocking access, or altering their network infrastructure to give business-critical applications higher priority.