Accessing Olympic Coverage from the Office May Have Its Hurdles, says Info-Tech Research Group

    LONDON, ON, Aug. 13 /EMWNews/ - With millions of people around the

world glued to their television sets and computer screens for the 2008

Beijing Summer Olympics, there could be a negative impact in the workplace

from employees downloading streaming video, says Info-Tech Research Group.

Watching the Olympics from the office may not only impede employee

productivity, but could also slow network performance and interfere with

critical applications.



    "A high volume of streaming media can easily put a strain on the

enterprise network and interfere with necessary business applications like

email and on-line commerce," said Jayanth Angl, senior research analyst

with Info-Tech Research Group. "When a home-town hero is in the medal round

of competition, the enterprise network may be pushed beyond its limits as

everyone accesses bandwidth-intensive video coverage."



    The concern over available bandwidth is especially great since many

online news sites are offering extensive live and archived coverage on

their websites. According to CCTV.com, the official internet/mobile phone

browser broadcaster of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, they will offer

approximately 3,800 hours of Olympic coverage to the online world.

Additionally, NBCOlympics.com and CBCSports.ca will provide approximately

2,200 and 1,500 hours of coverage respectively to individuals searching for

an online feed of the Games.



    "The Olympics present an opportunity for companies to clearly

communicate corporate guidelines for accessing high bandwidth content such

as live streaming video," said Angl. "Some firms decide to completely block

access to such material, while others enable access during lunch hour and

after hours, or some other selective filtering of content to ensure the

availability of network resources."



    By taking proactive measures and clearly communicating policy,

enterprises will ensure that their employees will remain productive and

their networks unfettered by high bandwidth, non-business traffic, even

during compelling times like the Olympics.

    About Info-Tech Research Group



    With a paid membership of over 23,000 worldwide, Info-Tech Research

Group (http://www.infotech.com) is the global leader in providing tactical,

practical Information Technology research and analysis. Info-Tech has a

ten-year history of delivering quality research and is one of North

America's fastest growing full-service IT analyst firms.