There is no doubt that Peer to Peer (P2P) networks are here to stay. Going by the statistics from reliable sources, the number of people and businesses who have been using these networks has grown exponentially over the past years. So, why is it so? Well, the truth is that many people are realizing how powerful such economies are when it comes to shaping the way that they share. In such communities, people do a lot and they also gain a lot. Emphases on collaboration as well as the advancement in technology are just some of the things that have been fueling this phenomenon. Here are some of the things that you might not have known about it.
- With P2P, people can share just about anything – there are those who share information, consumer goods and services, financial services as well as many others.
- There are many websites and other platforms that offer such services and new ones are being set up almost every day.
- According to the projections, P2P is fast becoming the preferred platform for people who do not necessarily believe in profiteering although there are those who actually do.
- You can choose who to share with when you use such networks.
For businesses, using P2P is becoming more of a necessity than optional. There are many benefits that large firms accrue from using such networking. These benefits are mostly about improving the way they connect with their clients as well as reducing production costs. A closer look at modern businesses shows that almost everyone wants to use the cloud. By uploading files to the cloud, each of your clients will access it instantly thus improving your efficiency, reducing your operational costs and giving the best experiences to your clients. Here are some of the most common situations.
Reducing bandwidth costs
Imagine a situation whereby a company manufactures software that are over 50 MB in size and used by billions of people from across the world. Without P2P sharing, it probably would be a very difficult task to distribute these products to every consumer who needs them. In fact, it would be impossible for all those customers to download and install as they wish. On the company’s part, uploading such software to the server requires a lot of tedious work, which in turn means too many employees.
On the other hand, with peer to peer networking, all that is required is to upload one version to the servers and everyone will have access to it. The distribution therefore occurs on autopilot and the company has very little to worry about when it comes to bandwidth. There are many leading companies that would not have been as big as they are now were it not for such possibilities. Good examples are those websites where people share videos, music and photographs. You only need to see the size of videos uploaded as well as the number to know how difficult it would have been.
It does not require any configuration
As you can see from the examples at Gear Peers, people are no longer talking about configuring things such as software when they download them. This is thanks to Peer to Peer networking. One good example is when you download any of the popular web browsers. Once you have the file on drive, all that you need to do is to run it and everything will be automatic. You do not have to be a software engineer to install software on your computer any more as was the case several years ago.
The result of zero configurations is that you can use software faster. Their functionality is also improved since you are not the one that determines the commands. Before P2P, one of the problems was that if you made a mistake when configuring the software, you were not able to use it anymore. Troubleshooting was not easy either. Those were the days when a business owner would have to go buying another piece of software just because of a minor mistake that they made when installing it. You also would have to look for an expert to do it right for you.
Enjoying a decentralized platform
One of the features of P2P is that there usually is no particular person who acts as the administrator. In fact, everyone is an administrator on their own through their computers or any other devices that they are using to access the service. Because of this, you have little to worry about when it comes to someone determining what you can do. Since you are sharing with the others who have joined the platform just like you, you enjoy the same privileges just like them. You also do not have to worry about someone determining who you share with or whatever you do.
With such a decentralized platform, you have the much needed platform to appeal to a specific group of people. For instance, if you are borrowing through a service that allows businesses to lend to others, you can develop your message in such a way that it appeals to the people you want to borrow from. One thing that is for sure is that through these platforms, not everyone will be interested in what you are looking for or what you are offering. It therefore would save a lot of time, energy, as well as funds if you can directly target them based on what they are doing.
In a nutshell, there is a lot that a business can benefit from through peer to peer exchanges. What is important is to ensure that you choose the networks that can add the much needed value to your investment. With many options coming up almost every day, you might just find yourself wasting too much time on those that you do not need when there are others that you actually should not do without. You might also want to try several options just to see the ones that are most beneficial to your business.
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This guest post is courtesy of Jack Dawson.