Three themes are dominating conversations across the commercial real estate sector this year: resilience, digital performance, and operational readiness.

While often discussed separately, they all point to one clear conclusion: buildings must be designed, managed and operated with far greater control over their digital infrastructure to remain competitive in an increasingly performance-driven market.  

Resilience: no longer a “nice-to-have”

Resilience has quickly moved from a technical concept to a commercial priority for landlords and developers.

Why? Because commercial buildings are now more digitally dependant than ever before.

Hybrid working, cloud-based applications, smart systems, security infrastructure and real-time operations all rely on constant, high-quality connectivity and uptime. As WiredScore’s latest research highlights, “always-on” demand continues to rise as technology becomes increasingly embedded into how we live and work.

This is reshaping how resilience is assessed across three connected pillars:

• Physical resilience (power, infrastructure and uptime).
• Digital resilience (connectivity, performance and redundancy).
• Cyber resilience (security, and protection of data and systems). 

Of these, digital resilience is becoming one of the strongest drivers of tenant confidence and long-term asset performance.

However, not all buildings are starting from the same place.

WiredScore’s Insights 2026 report shows that cities across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East are setting the benchmark for resilience, partly because digital infrastructure has been treated as a core utility from the outset.

In contrast, many buildings across London and Europe still rely on ageing infrastructure and fragmented legacy systems that struggle to support modern digital demand.

The result is a growing resilience gap across property portfolios.

A building may appear premium during a viewing, but if it relies on a single shared fibre connection or ageing network infrastructure, one outage can disrupt an entire building.

For tenants, it creates disruption and frustration. Teams can’t work, meetings fail, and day-to-day business grind to a halt. For landlords, it risks reputational damage and weaker asset performance.

This is why resilience is no longer just about reducing risk. It has become a value driver, and buildings with strong digital foundations will be far better positioned to adapt, perform and remain resilient.

Digital performance: now part of the deal

Digital performance has also become a key part of how buildings are judged, marketed and valued.

Recent industry research shows that:

• Grade A office space represented 92% of total Central London office take-up in Q1 2026, highlighting sustained demand for newer, high-quality buildings.
• Reliable, high-speed connectivity is now one of the most influential factors shaping tenant priorities.
• Buildings investing in advanced digital infrastructure can achieve rental premiums of 4.1%.

Leasing conversations are changing as a result.

Alongside location, amenities and sustainability credentials, tenants expect buildings to support the way their business operates now and in the future, and questions are now being asked much earlier in the leasing process:

Will it work from day one? Is it reliable? Can you prove it?

If answers are unclear, confidence drops quickly. And once that doubt is there, it is hard to recover as leasing deals slow down, require additional incentives, or fall away entirely.

Operational readiness: where expectations have changed

Timing is now just as important as resilience and performance.

Tenants expect to be online from the moment they move in… not weeks or moths later once wayleave negotiations, leased line deliveries and installations have been coordinated.

If delayed, fit-out programmes overrun, costs increase, and tenants are left unable to operate efficiently during the first few weeks of occupation.  

This is one of the reasons why flexible and managed workspaces have grown so quickly. For example, CBRE estimates that the flexible office market will rise from 12% of the total London office market today to 20% by 2030, reflecting growing demand for operationally ready, high-quality space.

These spaces have set a new benchmark where everything works from day one, and this is now filtering into traditional office spaces.

For landlords and developers, it creates new pressure:

• Digital infrastructure must be planned early and physically resilient.
• Tenant onboarding must be easy and quick
• Systems, providers and documents must be easy to manage.

Without this, even high-quality spaces risk operational bottlenecks, increased project costs and poor tenant experience.

So what’s missing? Control

Most landlords and developers understand the importance of resilience, digital performance and operational readiness.

The challenge is delivering it consistently.

Over time, buildings naturally become more complex. Different tenants introduce different providers. New technologies and smart systems are layered into assets. Infrastructure evolves without a long-term strategy in place.

Individually these decisions made sense. But together, they can create fragmented digital environments that are harder to manage, scale and support consistently across portfolios.

And problems only emerge when something goes wrong.

Visibility is limited, issues take longer to resolve, and tenants experience downtime and disruption regardless of the cause.

Without control, buildings become reactive.

With control of digital infrastructure, things look very different. Landlords and developers can take a far more proactive approach:

• Understanding exactly what digital infrastructure exists across their assets
• Identifying risks and single points of failure before they become operational issues
• Creating consistency across design, delivery and day-to-day operations
• Evidencing performance clearly to investors, agents and tenants.

Most importantly, control makes it easier to consistently deliver what modern tenants now expect as standard: reliable connectivity, smooth onboarding and a space that works from day one.

In that sense, control is no longer just about digital infrastructure. It is about protecting tenant experience, reducing risk, and maintaining long-term asset value.

What this means for landlords and developers

As expectations continue to rise, it is worth asking:

• Is there clear visibility of the digital infrastructure across assets?
• Are digital requirements considered early enough in the design and delivery process?
• Are there any single points of failure that could impact tenants?
• Can tenants get online and operational from day one?
• Is digital performance measurable, resilient and easy to evidence?
• Are systems properly documented, coordinated and scalable?

If the answer to any of these questions is unclear, there is likely an opportunity to improve operational control of your digital infrastructure and strengthen the long-term performance of your portfolio.

How Curve IT can help

At Curve IT, we help asset owners, landlords, and developers take control of their digital environments to keep them performing where and when it matters most.

Our consultancy and connectivity expertise helps deliver resilient, high-performing buildings ready for modern tenant expectations and future operational demands.

Buildings that invest in their digital infrastructure will be the ones that:

• Attract and retain higher quality tenants
• Protect and enhance asset value
• Adapt and scale easily to future demand.

Those that can’t will start to feel the gap.

Get in touch with the Curve IT team to discuss how we can support your next development project or enhance your current digital strategy across your property portfolio.

References

• WiredScore, (2026), WiredScore Insights 2026: Resilience Gets Real
• Savills, (2026), Central London office take-up grows in first quarter as active demand reaches another new high
• Savills, (2026), Savills: UK occupiers prioritise employee experience as building technology adoption increases
• Cushman & Wakefield, (2025), The Smart Premium: Estimating the return on investment in Digital Connectivity and Smart Technology in Commercial Real Estate
• CBRE, (2025), Press Release: Flex Space to Account For 20% of London Office Market by 2030

The post Digital Infrastructure: Driving or Damaging Your Portfolio Performance? appeared first on Curve IT.

It a busy start to the week. Teams log on, phones ring, and emails fly… until suddenly everything stops.

That’s what happened twice in October 2025: Vodafone “dropped off the internet” on Monday 13^th, followed a week later by Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Over 130,000 reports were recorded for Vodafone, leaving customers offline, while AWS saw more than 6.5 million disruption reports, affecting major banks, retailers and public services.

For commercial landlords and business tenants, the message is simple: when your connectivity drops, so does productivity, reputation and revenue.  

The price of every minute offline

Connectivity is the backbone of modern business, but it’s value goes unnoticed until it is gone:

• UK businesses lost over 50 million hours and £3.7 billion due to internet failures
• Downtime costs have risen by 400% since 2018
• IT-related downtime averages £4,300 per minute
• 82% of companies report operational disruption and reputational damage as well as financial losses.

Why outages happens and why they hurt.

Connectivity outages can result from cable damage (especially on construction sites), ISP network issues, power failures, and/or human error and accidental software/configuration changes. And as buildings get smarter, the consequences multiply.

For tenants, the effects can be immediate:

• Lost communication internally and externally as phones, emails and video calls go down.
• Cloud services, internal platforms and shared drives go offline.
• Payment systems, e-commerce platforms and customer interactions freeze, leading to lost sales.  
• Staff productivity and morale drop, leading to bottlenecks and missed deadlines.

Long-term risks include erosion of client trust, disruption of supplier relationships, delays in project delivery and even contract losses if service levels aren’t met.

For landlords, outages can disrupt:

• Building management systems, lighting, HVAC and smart meters
• Access controls and CCTV
• Lift monitoring and safety alarms and systems  
• Tenant communications and service logs.

Repeated issues also erode tenant confidence, which then drives reputational damage, higher tenant churn, harder lease renewals and the risk of vacant space.

Staying connected: Why a good partner matters

Avoiding downtime requires more than just good hardware. It requires resilient design and proactive management, and that’s where a specialist partner like Curve IT can make the difference.

Form the earliest design stages, we partner with architects, developers and landlords to help create and manage reliable networks suited to the specific needs of the property and its users.  

• Resilient design: Dual routers, multiple fibre links, geographically separate routes and power feeds with battery backups protect networks against any single points of failure

• Advanced monitoring: Multiple monitoring systems proactively detect, investigate and resolve potential faults before they can escalate.

• Fast, transparent support: Our in-house support desk provides clients with clear communication channels and rapid responses directly from our engineers.

• Proactive maintenance: Daily automated backups, patch management and scheduled updates keep systems stable and secure, protect critical data and minimise any required downtime.

• Tailored, end-to-end service: Every technological detail of a building’s IT infrastructure is considered and designed to be reliable and adaptable as technology evolves, ensuring long-term service stability rather than short-term costly fixes.

With Curve IT, you are not just another account in a call queue. You gain a partner that is invested in your connectivity and your success.

“Always on”

When the internet goes down, productivity, trust and revenue go with it. And in an “always on” world, resilient IT infrastructure and the right partner are invaluable for protecting your buildings and business.

Curve IT work with architects, contractors and landlords to design and maintain networks that keep buildings and business tenants online, productive and satisfied – no matter what.

Talk to us today about your next development project.

References

• BBC News, (2025), Vodafone says outage affecting thousands of customers resolved
• The Times, (2025), Amazon, Snapchat and Ring ‘recover’ after AWS went down – as it happened
• Beaming, (2023), The Cost of Internet Downtime – The impact of outages on UK Businesses in 2023
• Clyk, (2025), The Real Cost of Downtime for UK Businesses
• IT for Less, (2025), The True Cost of Downtime: Stats Every Business Should Know

The post The Hidden Cost of a Connectivity Outage appeared first on Curve IT.

Exploring the tends now shaping the modern built environment, and why the right IT infrastructure is key for smarter, sustainable, resilient spaces.

The built environment is undergoing a significant transformation. Buildings are no longer just physical spaces, they are becoming digital ecosystems powered by smart systems, data analytics and sustainable technologies.  

However, as construction demands rise, there is a growing pressure to cut operational costs while also meeting ambitious sustainability targets to reduce climate impacts and conserve resources. 

This presents both opportunities for developers, architects and contractors, and success depends on integrating the right IT infrastructure from the outset. Getting it wrong risks inefficiencies, spiralling costs, and buildings that will quickly become outdated or non-compliant with future sustainability initiatives. 

Here we explore the four key trends that are driving the design and operation of built spaces and how the right IT infrastructure is needed to support smarter, sustainable developments.  

Hyper-connected buildings 

The integration of IoT devices, sensors and smart systems are already creating hyper-connected buildings. Globally, the number of IOT deployments in the commercial building sector is projected to more than double to 4.12 billion by 2030 ¹. These deployments include devices such as occupancy sensors, smart lighting, HVAC controls and access control systems, all which communicate with one another to improve operational efficiency and functionality. 

However, this level of connectivity only works if there is a solid IT foundation in place. Robust fibre infrastructure, resilient, high-speed networks (private or otherwise) and cloud-based platforms are essential for supporting large data volumes and maintaining uptime. Without this, developments risk bottlenecks and costly inefficiencies. 

AI-driven operations  

AI is becoming central to building operations and management systems, particularly for sustainable practices and ESG reporting. For example, AI-powered systems can: 

• Predict maintenance needs and anticipate equipment failures before they happen.  

• Automatically identify areas contributing to emission and waste and optimise energy consumption.  

• Analyse occupant behaviour to inform dynamic environment adjustments (e.g. lighting, temperature and security) ².  

And the benefits of these systems are clear:  

• Reduced downtime and maintenance costs  

• Improved energy efficiency and sustainability outcomes  

• Enhanced occupant comfort and productivity 

However, the potential of these AI-driven systems depends primarily on data quality, as well as security, integration and compatibility, and scalability³. And data generation alone is not enough.  

A secure, scalable and well-integrated IT infrastructure is therefore needed to support the generation and flow of data between devices and analytic platforms, and turn these AI insights into actionable outcomes – from energy savings to improved tenant experience.  

Sustainability by design  

Due to increasing environmental pressures, regulations and targets, sustainability is no longer optional. The World Green Building Council reports that the building and construction sector is globally responsible for 35% of energy consumption, 50% of resource consumption, and 38% of energy-related carbon emissions⁴. With the UK committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, and London becoming a zero-carbon by 2030, developers must embed sustainability into their projects from the start.  

Digital tools, such as building performance simulations, energy monitoring systems, and digital twins are helping to reduce energy consumption, optimise resource use and cut carbon footprints. Physical strategies, such as the “dig once” philosophy, the rise of “circular economies”, and the emerging idea of “shared infrastructure” (which has had notable success in Sweden) also help to avoid duplication and further minimise embodied carbon.  

Early planning and design of the right digital infrastructure is key. Developers can avoid unnecessary and costly retrofits, reduce construction costs, and accelerate deployment, all while enhancing and supporting the building’s sustainability and adaptability.  

Enhanced security and resilience 

As buildings become more interconnected, the risk of system failures, outages and cyber-attacks grows. It is reported that the UK economy lost approximately £17.6bn in economic output in 2024 due to internet and connectivity outages, with the London economy accounting for approximately £5.7bn of that loss⁵.  

While the direct financial fallout of a system failure or outage can be significant, the wider impact to a building or tenant’s productivity, reputation and compliance can be far greater. This is why resilient IT infrastructure expertise and design must be considered as a priority for a development, rather than an afterthought.  

Redundancy and segmentation, secure access protocols, real-time monitoring and proactive alerts are just some of the key measures that ensure buildings and businesses remain digitally secure and operational even in the face of a system failure or outage.    

Equally important is the physical resilience of networks. Fibre optic sensing technologies are emerging to help detect threats and prevent accidental or construction-related damage, while enterprise-grade fibre, switches and network design help to maintain uninterrupted, high-quality connectivity, even in high demand or high risk environments.  

Preparing for the future  

It goes without saying that the future is going to see the built environment continue to evolve. Hyper-connectivity, AI, sustainability, and resilience will continue to define modern buildings. Collaborating early with all stakeholders during the design and construction stages ensures that developments are supported by the right IT infrastructure.  

The result? Smarter, greener and more efficient spaces that attract investors and tenants, provide high ROIs and long-term value for developers and landlords, and meet environmental and regulatory obligations. 

Integrating IT early ensures that today’s developments will be ready for the opportunities of the future. Curve IT consults with developers, architects and contractors to design and deliver buildings that are smart, sustainable and resilient.  Get in touch to discuss how we can support your next development project.   

References:

1. Memoori, (2025), IOT Devices In Smart Connected Buildings 2025 to 2030 

2. Johnson Controls, (2024), How AI is Transforming the Built Environment 

3. CSL, (2025), How AI, ML, RL and Dl are Transforming Building Management Systems 

4. World Green Building Council, (2025), The Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment 

5. Assembly, (2024), A report for Vorboss:  Reliability and Compensation in the business connectivity market

The post The Right IT Infrastructure: Supporting The Modern Built Environment appeared first on Curve IT.

Matt Ryan joins from Wessex Internet, where he was technical director, in a new role at Curve as Head of Fibre Infrastructure Development.

With nearly 20 years’ experience working in network infrastructure and architecture, Matt will be responsible for working on large scale projects associated with the planning and delivery of superfast broadband to communities in the South East and elsewhere in the UK. This includes working with local authorities and major private sector construction partners.

Matt’s role will centre around Curve IT’s ‘dig once’ approach, which aims to minimise disruption to communities and reduce costs for local authorities and private contractors by co-ordinating the installation of full fibre cables and ducts with other major construction work.

Matt has held a number of senior positions in his career in addition to his previous role as Technical Director at Wessex Internet. He served as Technical Director at Metranet Communications Ltd, where he oversaw the introduction of the UK’s first hybrid wireless and fibre gigabit service provider network in Brighton, which was funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)’s Connection Voucher Scheme.

He also worked at Technical Director at Moovera Networks Ltd, where he led one of the UK’s first installations of WiFi on public transport by providing connectivity on the Stagecoach run ‘Oxford Tube’ bus service connecting Oxford to London.

Commenting on his appointment Matt Ryan said, ‘‘Full fibre infrastructure is an essential utility to communities across the UK, and once in place it brings a wide range of productivity, leisure and digital inclusivity benefits.

“However, getting fibre infrastructure in the ground requires a carefully coordinated approach.

“With many local authorities and contractors looking beyond Openreach when it comes to delivering their own connectivity projects, I’m looking forward to championing Curve’s expertise as a full fibre planning and delivery partner.”

Simon O’Hare, Managing Director of Curve IT, said ‘‘It’s great to have someone with the experience that Matt brings onboard.

“He will be pivotal to the expansion of our fibre infrastructure development team.’’

The post Curve IT appoints new Head of Fibre Infrastructure Development appeared first on Curve IT.

What does this mean for Windows 7 users?

Microsoft has stated that running Windows 7 without continued software and security updates will leave users at greater risk for viruses and malware. The reason for this is that when Microsoft send out their monthly updates, security patches are a key part or this. Windows 7 will use much of the same code as Windows 10, however, it won’t be updated and potential weaknesses will no longer be addresses anymore. With the number of current users still standing in hundreds of millions, hackers are likely to use potential weaknesses to target computers still running Windows 7.

What should I do?

Microsoft have stated that the best thing to do if you are still operating a Windows 7 system is to buy a new device that is running Windows 10. Whilst it is possible to download Windows 10 on a computer that was previously running Windows 7, Microsoft have advised that this is not recommended. This is because an old system running Windows 7 may have difficulties in running a modern system in Windows 10. Techradar, for example, recommends that to effectively run Windows 10 you need at least a 2GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM (8GB ideally) and a 160GB hard drive. If your computer is not up to these standards, then it might be time to speak to Curve IT Managed IT Services for some recommendations on treating yourself to a new device.

If, however, your computer does fit those requirements there are some benefits to upgrading your old system. It is the easiest solution for a start, and you are able to keep your documents in one place. You will have to buy a Windows 10 license, however, and these can be expensive to purchase, which is worth keeping in mind, especially for businesses with a large number of devices and users.

What if I don’t do anything?

Initially, Windows 7 will still run as normal. It just won’t be getting the patches each month. You can keep your computer ‘patched’ manually. This reduces the risk to some degree but devices utilising a Windows 7 system are still more vulnerable than their Windows 10 counterparts. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) said that it would ‘urge those using the software after the deadline to replace unsupported devices as soon as possible, to move sensitive data to a supported device and not to use them for tasks like accessing bank and other sensitive accounts’.

How Curve can help?

The Managed IT Services team at Curve has already helped a range of businesses move to Windows 10. As well as ensuring your organisation is running an up-to-date, supported operating system, making a move to Windows 10 can also help your company deploy applications and infrastructures that will help support flexible and collaborative working practices. This includes moving to cloud based software, such as the latest version of Microsoft 365, and making use of collaboration tools such as Microsoft teams.

Contact Curve to talk about how our Managed IT Services team can help your business upgrade

The post Curve IT Managed IT Services: Why it’s time your organisation moved on from Windows 7 appeared first on Curve IT.

Inclusive Connectivity equals Digital Inclusivity

Local authorities and other public bodies need to consider the best way of making connectivity as accessible to as many citizens as possible. In built-up, urban environments for example, where full fibre provision is already in place, it is now typical for local authorities to run public WiFi networks that ensure citizens can access superfast broadband with ease. A range of previous incentives have been available to encourage the roll-out of these networks.

In more rural areas, where the provision of superfast broadband itself is less common, this naturally becomes the first hurdle to overcome. While there are a number of centralised initiatives to ensure superfast connectivity outside of urban areas, including continued work by Openreach, this is one area where special co-operative groups, consisting of local bodies and businesses, can work to develop their own digital strategy. And this might not necessarily involve expensive cabling work either. For example, point to point communications can be used to create network coverage in rural areas by establishing a line of site connection between the nearest fibre availability and the desired location.

A Joined-Up Approach

Major connectivity projects require a joint will and a collaborative approach in order to succeed. This joined-up approach can involve a variety of models, including the possibility of public ownership of the fibre network itself. While this might stop short of some of the headline grabbing proposals of recent weeks for a UK wide, government owned free broadband network, a number of local authorities have led the way by leading projects with the help of public sector funding, such as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) backed Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Challenge Fund. This includes local authorities such as Nottinghamshire County Council.

Other examples of collaboration include the role of regional co-operatives, such as the Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CIN), which brings together public and private sector organisations to create and share new digital infrastructure in and around Tameside and Blackpool.

Even if public ownership of the final network is not the ultimate goal, a joined-up approach to digital full fibre infrastructure can create a number of benefits. This might be cost savings generated by coordinating major projects that involve roadworks and disruption so that duct and cable laying can be factored in at the same time – often referred to as a ‘dig-once approach’ – through to shared use of the final network in order to maximise its positive impact on the community. This might include using the fibre network for a range of ‘smart city’ initiatives, from widespread CCTV coverage to the delivery of digital telecare and telehealth services over superfast broadband, something that is becoming increasingly important as the population ages.

Ultimately, it is the provision of fibre infrastructure itself that is critical to underpinning the majority of initiatives centred on digital inclusivity. The more joined

The post Digital Inclusivity: A Joined-Up Full Fibre Approach appeared first on Curve IT.

Here at Curve IT, much of our recent work has been focused on the provision of full fibre infrastructure and the development of converged networks and wireless connectivity at individual sites.

With buildings – and construction projects themselves – likely to get even smarter in 2020, let’s look at these areas in turn.

Wireless connectivity

The next-generation standard in WiFi technology is WiFi 6. Previously known as 802.11ax, until the WiFi Alliance wisely gave it a somewhat catchier name, the standard supersedes WiFi 5, on which most current devices and routers run. As the Alliance explains, WiFi 6 offers higher data rates, increased capacity, greater performance in environments with many connected devices, and improved power efficiency.

It’s that third point that we’re particularly interested in. Whilst WiFi 6 has a much higher theoretical speed limit than its predecessor – 9.6Gbps as opposed to 3.5Gbps – those top speeds are unlikely to ever be encountered by most consumers. Indeed, most consumers won’t need those top speeds, at least with current devices and demands. However, performance improvements when multiple connected devices are running on the same WiFi network will be noticed – because in an era of smart buildings and Internet of Things (IoT) technology – the number of connected devices in the average home or office environment is going through the roof. Thanks to WiFi 6, the possibilities for genuinely smart buildings will expand dramatically in 2020.

WiFi 6 was introduced by the Alliance in September and will be rolled out in earnest in 2020. A number of WiFi 6 routers and access points, including those from Ruckus, are already available, for businesses who wish to dip their toes in these high-performance waters.

Full fibre rollouts

Despite the recent election and the continued spotlight on Brexit, full fibre broadband roll-out will have its fair share of attention over the coming twelve months. The Conservative manifesto reiterated its pledge to bring ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband to the entire UK by 2025, with £5 billion allocated to the final 20% of hard-to-reach areas.

It is clear that full fibre broadband has transitioned from being a niche concern and has become a genuinely public one. And rightly so. In today’s interconnected world, high-performance broadband is no longer a nice-to-have – it is part of critical national infrastructure.

Nevertheless, its presence in the recent UK election underlined the cost and complexity involved in rolling out full fibre broadband across the entire country. This is why Curve IT is so passionate about innovation when it comes to superfast broadband delivery. From working with local authorities to implement a ‘dig once’ philosophy – whereby new full fibre roll outs are combined with other construction and infrastructure projects, such as utilities installations and new road layouts to reduce expenditure – to encouraging broadband projects driven by regional public and private sector co-ops, we believe that a creative and flexible approach is needed to advance the connectivity cause in 2020.

Smart buildings

Smart buildings gained much greater traction throughout 2019, as the public became increasingly familiar with devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, and homes across the country were encouraged to install smart meters. This journey will pick up speed in 2020, thanks in part to WiFi 6, as outlined above.

But it is on the commercial side of buildings that connected technology is likely to have a truly dramatic impact in the next twelve months. Consider major office buildings which can deploy smart lighting and heating systems in order to save energy. Or build-to-rent projects which can deliver truly integrated, seamless connectivity for their residents, from the lobby to the top floor and even into other buildings managed by the same company. We expect to see possibilities like this considered much earlier on in the construction process in 2020, as property developers and construction managers realise the benefits that can be wrought by having a ‘smart buildings’ approach that utilises a converged network approach from day one.

A technology first approach

How to summarise all of these predictions? Thanks to enhancements to wireless technology, we expect approaches to building connectivity to become increasingly embedded in project planning in 2020. Superfast broadband and smart building systems will move away from being considered ‘add-ons’ at the end of the construction or upgrade project, and increasingly be ‘baked in’ from the start. Smart technology infrastructure for the built environment in 2020 will no longer be an optional extra – it will be integral.

The post 2020 Built Environment Technology trends appeared first on Curve IT.

Wagner’s relaunch follows the appointment of a new not-for-profit management company K P Spaces who aim to position the building as a key focal point for Brighton’s business and creative sectors. The venue was first built in the 1970s and is owned by the adjacent St Paul’s church on West Street.

Curve IT’s network now mean that superfast connectivity is implemented across the venue. This will benefit businesses using the space as well as visitors and the general public, with the connection now being more than suitable to support mobile and WiFi card payments, streaming and hotspot needs.

For Wagner’s new management team, the need for seamless connectivity was of the utmost importance. Penny Parker, Venue Manager at KPS Spaces said: “We knew that in order to make Wagner Hall an attractive and integral venue for Brighton, a strong venue wifi and internet connection was needed. We looked at regular commercial broadband offerings, but were troubled at the thought of us having connectivity issues, and it taking several days to fix, as that could affect business massively.”

“For us, Curve IT was the natural choice, they’re a locally based business, and we know that if we have any issues they’ll be sorted on the same day! We’re really looking forward to growing Wagner Hall into a core event space for Brighton, and Curve IT are just the right networking partners to help with that!”

Curve IT have connected Wagner Hall by establishing a converged network from a wireless link on the roof of Brighton Centre (another Curve IT network). This method means that Curve IT own the network and are not reliant on third parties for support and fixes. Curve IT have provided networking and connectivity solutions for a wide variety of structures in Brighton, London and across the UK. Including the British Airways i360 Observation Tower and a series of Essential Living’s new build apartment buildings across Greater London.

Simon O’Hare, Managing Director of Curve IT added: “It’s great to see somewhere like Wagner Hall be given a new lease of life as a multi-purpose venue for Brighton. We are pleased that the team there acknowledge the importance of strong connectivity, and we look forward to working with them closely in the future, which I’m sure will be bright for Wagner.”

The post Wagner Hall revolutionised with a venue wifi networking upgrade from Curve IT appeared first on Curve IT.

Whether it’s overloaded by the crowds, unable to reach into every area of the premises, or simply doesn’t offer high enough bandwidth to cope with the data-rich applications which are critical to business today, it’s simply not good enough.

Which is why we welcome the news that the UK government has pledged £250k to tackle the problem. Somewhat unusually, it has been offered in the form of a competition. Conference centres and other venues with the facilities to host conferences will compete to apply for funding to improve their connectivity infrastructures, with the overall aim to encourage more international business events to take place in the UK.

WiFi: a winning difference

Top-quality WiFi can make or break the experience of a business event. Increasingly powerful smartphones, tablets and laptops mean that mobile working is no longer just about being able to access one’s emails and write up the odd report. Professionals across every sector expect to be able to access core business data and specialist applications wherever they are. And at conferences, whether attending a round table, participating in a workshop or simply networking, there are myriad contexts where attendees want to be able to browse websites, update social media, register for further events and activities, and participate in polls, surveys and even games. Most conferences now have custom apps, and these run and depend on WiFi, especially for those travelling internationally. WiFi is the foundation upon which all of these activities sit, and its absence or unreliability quickly becomes an enormous nuisance.

Furthermore, because WiFi is so integral to the experience of conference attendees, it is also integral to attracting investment for those conferences. Major organisations are far more likely to spend on sponsorship and agree to high-profile speaking opportunities when they know the infrastructure is in place for a truly engaging and innovative attendee experience. In many sectors, powerful WiFi is vital to enable presenters to share their findings or predictions in an interactive or creative way. A WiFi gateway, where all attendees have to log in through, is also an incredibly valuable sponsorship tool in its own right and can offer very lucrative results for sponsors.

The challenges of scale

The core challenges of delivering high-quality WiFi at conferences are the physical premises – which may be particularly sprawling and complex, and therefore difficult to ensure consistent coverage throughout – and the sheer dynamism of the user base. With thousands or tens of thousands of attendees moving through the space every day, and masses of different users attempting to join and leave the WiFi at every event, WiFi for conference venues needs to be superbly elastic and scalable.

This challenge is one with which Curve IT is extremely familiar. We ensure every job we do has in-depth ‘WiFi Assurance’, which means we can accurately confirm how good WiFi is in a venue through scans and reporting, as well as the design of the network overall. Delivering robust, reliable and high-bandwidth WiFi in premises which have to deal with thousands of visitors every day is something we achieve for numerous different clients – including, recently, the refurbished Wagner Hall in Brighton. We have ensured that super-fast connectivity is available throughout the venue – benefiting staff, visitors, and businesses using the space also.

As the importance of conference WiFi becomes better-recognised by venues up and down the country, we look forward to seeing more innovative approaches to delivering high-speed, high-bandwidth and highly resilient connectivity – and being part of more projects ourselves.

The post An end to dodgy conference WiFi? appeared first on Curve IT.

Yet the landscape is not all doom and gloom. The latest statistics from the Retail Sales Index suggest in the three months to June of this year, the quantity bought increased by 0.7%, with a year-on-year growth rate of 3.8%in June. Theoretically, the country could enter calmer political waters this autumn.

The only certainty, then, seems to be uncertainty. Retailers must compete in a hostile and fast-moving environment, amidst changing consumer habits and a broader sense of political and financial upheaval. One key factor in delivering this competitiveness is digital innovation in retail environments.

What does in-store digital innovation look like?

What do we mean by this? As retail customers become increasingly likely to carry highly powerful mobile devices running on high-speed and high-capacity 5G cellular networks, and as the expanding IoT continues to drive innovations both in the home and in public spaces, so customers in retail stores will see intelligent, connected experiences as the norm, not a luxury extra.

At the most basic level, then, offering high-quality in-store WiFi means that retailers are responding to customer expectations and ensuring that the shopping experience doesn’t impede or frustrate shoppers who want to be able to browse the internet or access social media.

On a more sophisticated level, however, in-store WiFi can form the foundation for an array of more innovative and creative experiences. Bespoke applications, potentially integrated with IoT sensors placed throughout the store, can do everything from offer cross-selling and up-selling ideas, to allowing browsers to digitally try on an effort, or place an item of furniture in a representation of their home. The gamification possibilities are broad too, with savvy retailers looking for new opportunities to both build loyalty and extend the leisure possibilities of their stores.

Then there’s the back-office side of things to consider. High-speed wireless connectivity can power intelligent approaches to inventory management and checking on-shelf availability, automating manual processes and consolidating different sources of information to enable stores to run more efficiently. This improves working conditions for retail staff, and allows them to be more customer-focused and more informative and responsive.

What are the foundations for digital innovation?

Getting this right, however, requires a considered and careful approach to in-store infrastructure. Get that wrong and the whole endeavour can be prohibitively expensive or complex.

But where to begin? Enterprise-grade WiFi solutions can be hugely effective – but very expensive, particularly for any organisation smaller than the biggest department stores and multinational retailers. But clearly technology aimed primarily at domestic deployments is not going to be powerful enough.

Cloud-based WiFi can offer a compromised route forward, whereby individual stores run on virtual private networks (VPNs) from a single centralised database. And, as with all cloud computing deployments, the benefits in terms of elastic scalability, flexibility and agility are substantial.

Above all, however, retailers need to take a strategic and highly tailored approach to rolling out network infrastructure. This means developing a network strategy for all stores, individually and as a cohesive whole. It means undertaking bandwidth modelling, to establish those stores’ requirements today but also in the future, should new innovations be made in customer-facing applications.

Robust and reliable digital innovation and connectivity has become as important as part of retail infrastructure as their utilities and energy services. Smart networking means smarter retailers.

The post Intelligent infrastructure: Why being connected is essential in retail environments appeared first on Curve IT.

Wireless connectivity and beyond

And internet connectivity is just one of the overall networking requirements for a typical modular building. Systems such as CCTV, building alarms and other security systems, as well as door entry systems and building management systems (BMSs) like fire safety solutions all require networks of some shape or form. All this means that modular construction projects need to pay serious attention to wireless network planning which determines when and how the network infrastructure is built in. Wait until all of the individual pods or components have been installed onsite, and add wireless connectivity at the very end? You get the advantage of clarity and a holistic approach – but are also adding a potentially complex build and installation task at the end of what was meant to be a clean, logical and accelerated construction project, piece by piece.

A converged approach from Curve IT

Instead, wireless connectivity should be approached in a modular way too. One approach is to install a single, strong converged network throughout the entire building, and then use software to split it up into individual virtual LANs, or VLANs. Each individual VLAN can then be used to support a different networked function,  from security and management systems to whole-building WiFi.

Turning specifically to WiFi, an approach which is particularly useful for build to rent and student accommodation is to generate Personal Area Networks, which allow residents to access their home WiFi from anywhere in the building – even if they are in the lobby and their flat is on the top floor. These networks can also travel with tenants between individual buildings in an operator’s estate.

Ultimately, modular constructors should look to involve IT networking specialists as early as possible in their projects, working with both the operations and the brand or marketing team to develop a wireless connectivity strategy which is as efficient and logical as the building itself.

The post Wireless network planning in modular buildings appeared first on Curve IT.

The shared network, which was developed by Brighton based connectivity specialist Curve IT, has been deployed across four new developments in Islington, Bethnal Green, Greenwich and Maidenhead and is set to include a fifth Essential Living site in Swiss Cottage, which is currently under construction.

The project will enable Essential Living to deliver multiple services to both tenants renting its properties and to back-office staff managing those properties, via a single network installation.

The converged network solution will be used to provide reliable, superfast broadband access to residents while also supporting operational requirements including CCTV, door entry, access and alarm systems, and a shared building management system.

Work is also already underway to deliver electricity, water and heating metering across the network.

Curve IT delivered the network via a point-to-point connection, installing antennas and receivers on the buildings to achieve robust and reliable line of sight connections from property to property. By working with Essential Living early in the build-to-rent project stage, Curve IT was also able to save the firm from going out to separate mechanical and electrical (M&E) and cabling contractors for each of the properties.

From high-performance WiFi into individual flats, to alarm and CCTV systems, all are run from a single fibre and copper network, divided up into virtual subnetworks, or VLANs. This eliminates unnecessary duplication within and between the properties, and provides an efficient foundation for an array of smart building systems.

Essential Living focuses on delivering premium apartments in sought-after locations, with 24-hour on-site teams and exercise rooms. Delivering high-quality connectivity to residents, and ensuring seamless and effective back-office systems is essential to maintain this premium brand. Additionally, deploying a converged solution across all five sites can enable the seamless development of further services, such as Personal Area Networks which travel with tenants throughout buildings, as well as building-specific apps, in the future.

Ian Merrick at Essential Living said: “We pride ourselves on offering an excellent standard of living to our tenants, and really understanding their desire to be connected, both in terms of location and technology.

“Curve IT understood that from the outset, and proposed a cost-effective and highly scalable solution. It makes absolute sense for us to run all our connected functions, for tenants and staff alike, off the same converged network, and Curve IT has made that happen.”

Simon O’Hare at Curve IT added: “Build-to-rent firms have so much to gain from converged networks. They save a huge amount of money and complexity right from the beginning, by avoiding the need to deal with multiple contractors or unnecessary duplication. Then, they provide an outstanding platform for deplopying a wide array of smart building functions and  innovative tenant experiences – at precisely the rate that suits the operator.”

The post Essential Living launches converged network solution across London build to rent sites appeared first on Curve IT.