Is Having a "Back Up" Just Accepting Failure

I was putting up the Christmas lights this year and thought to myself "man I hope I don't fall off this roof"....but also, "man it would be nice to never have to do this again". Have you seen the permanent lights that go under the soffit and can change colors for any holiday and any occasion? Well, my wife struck down the idea... "I want the classic look" she says. But I still argue it's a great idea. (I will not win this argument however, so let's move on)

In the era of modern SD-WAN, every circuit should pull its weight year-round, not just swopp in during or after a failure (and "swoop" may be generous). Think of it this way: would you hire an employee who sits in the breakroom all day, waiting for someone else to quit? Of course not! (I'm talking to you Larry!) So why settle for a “backup” circuit that only does something after your primary link fails? With today’s technology, both circuits can work together continuously, sharing the load, improving performance, and quietly handling hiccups without you ever asking, “Am I back up?”

A few years back, I recall a chain of QSRs that would rely on their backup circuit to kick in whenever the main connection faltered. This happened often enough that some store managers had it down to a science of when their primary would go down. They saw the signs, knew it was going to happen, but were helpless to prevent it. And because they had just made a huge push to tech-driven experiences, it was very apparent when they weren't running on primary connectivity. Managers refreshed dashboards, employees apologized to customers, and IT folks paced like doctors outside an operating room, waiting for things to recover. Meanwhile, guests just wanted their burgers and fries without a guest Wi-Fi to keep devices connected and hold them over. With an always-on, active-active approach, that entire nail-biting scenario becomes much less common. If one connection hiccups, the other steps up instantly—no drama (see above), no downtime, no frantic calls to support. According to some industry surveys, enterprises that shift to always-on connectivity report up to 30% fewer IT escalations during peak traffic, which means more time serving customers and less time panicking over network graphs.

"Did you know, on any given day upwards of 5% of fixed broadband circuits could be experiencing a failure / outage / or in a degraded state"

This approach isn’t just about preventing disasters—it’s also a day-to-day performance booster. Imagine your network as a pair of marathon runners working in a relay. Old-school backup strategies kept the second runner sitting in the stands, waiting for the first to collapse. Always-on connectivity puts both runners on the track simultaneously, maintaining a steady pace together. And when one needs a breather, the other pushes forward seamlessly. It’s a strategy that acknowledges reality: networks have bad days and good days. Instead of planning for a worst-case scenario where everyone’s scrambling, you plan for normalcy, efficiency, and continuous improvement.

On top of that, the cost argument is shifting. The old logic was that backup lines sat idle so that you’d still have a lifeline if the primary failed. But if you’re paying for that second circuit anyway, why not use it every hour of every day? Otherwise, it’s like paying for a gym membership you never use.

Is there an expense, sure. Connectivity isn't free...but ask yourself this? "What is the cost of an outage? For an hour, a day?" Better yet, do you expect customers to keep coming back when the experience you built for them keep letting them down? While ISPs are getting better are spotting issues and correcting them as a whole, when there is a major issue the length of recovery time has actually increased. (~12% are over 48 hours - Uptime Institute)

With always-on connectivity, you actually see the return on that investment—both circuits deliver value continuously, balancing application loads, improving response times, and enhancing the customer experience. Remember, it's not just "Am I Up" it's "Am I Running As Expected". It’s the difference between treating your network as an emergency escape hatch and treating it as a foundational asset that actively drives business results. No more worrying that you have no room to scale and support new digital initiatives. In other words, you never have to utter the phrase, "My Network is Full". Not that you would, because that's silly, but you get the point.

"You can't expect the experiences of tomorrow to run flawlessly on the networks of yesterday" - Courtney Radke

At the end of the day, saying goodbye to the old “backup” mentality is becoming more common. No more waiting for failure, no more red light to turn green and hopefully back again. No more asking “Am I back up?” because you never really go down. It’s a future that works as reliably as the lights in your kitchen: you flip the switch and expect them to shine without fail. That’s the kind of confidence in technology that distributed enterprises are looking for, and the kind they can finally achieve with a modern, active-active network strategy.

Want to learn more or chat about what’s next? Let’s connect! You can also send me a message or shoot me an email: [email protected]