Many operators are understandably concerned about what might happen should they lose connectivity or experience a hardware malfunction. Not only are these instances incredibly costly for merchants, but they also result in poor customer user experiences. One of the ways to mitigate this risk is by partnering with a cloud-based software provider who ensures 99+% uptime and data loss prevention.

What is ‘uptime’? 

Uptime is a measurement of a system's reachability and operational state. Ideally a system would always run at 100%, but as outages happen, this is rarely the case. Most software service level agreements (SLAs) consider this possibility and typically work in ‘nines’: i.e. 99%, 99.9%, 99.99%. This measure, when paired with an SLA is something that is considered as a threshold for acceptable outages. 

For context, uptime is usually averaged over a year: 

• 99% = 3.65 days of possible downtime
• 99.9 %= 8.77 hours of possible downtime
• 99.99% = less than 1 hour of possible downtime (52.6 minutes) 

Cloud vs on-Premise 

The benefits of cloud-based technology are far superior to those of on-premise solutions. 

1. A disaster like hardware malfunction can lead to data loss if you are using on-premise setup. This is especially true for setups that do not have any off-site backup mechanisms in place. Moving to a cloud solution makes data loss less likely, your devices become "safely" disposable meaning that breaking a tablet means you can just log in on another one and have access to your data normally.
2. Bizzon’s cloud-based ePos not only provides 99.99% uptime, we also provide connection redundancies to ensure better network stability in the event of an unplanned outage. By eliminating a single point of failure, we utilise a combination of equipment and devices to ensure constant network availability. In contrast, on-premise solutions run the risk of disrupted connectivity (due to a single point of failure). 
3. Cloud-based software also allows for regular and immediate software enhancements & updates - On-premise solutions require on-site support for software updates. 

An additional benefit of a cloud-based system is that you can use separate pathways to reach it: via mobile carrier network (3, 4 or 5G) or local internet connection (Wi-Fi, Ethernet).

Let’s take a look at a few different scenarios: 

Scenario #1:

Your restaurant’s Wi-Fi has gone down: 

Your guests will still be able to place orders through their mobile phones via 4G. Tablets can still send orders (via Ethernet) to the kitchen. Printers will remain connected and working. 

Scenario #2:

You have a complete power failure - (Wi-Fi AND Ethernet have gone down)

Provided their phones are charged, guests will still be able to place orders through their mobile phones via 4G. Tablets can still send orders (via 4G) to the kitchen. Instead of printing physical receipts, digital ordering software will send email receipts to customers.

Our cloud-based software will keep your business operational even if your Wi-Fi, 4G or Ethernet connection fails. Our combination of equipment and devices ensures constant network availability.