Hoop Nightmares

By admin

Today is the day that every basketball junkie in America has been waiting for.  It also is the day that many IT network managers across the nation have been dreading.  The San Jose Mercury News reports that employers across the nation are taking steps to avoid network meltdown as their staffs attempt to access the first day of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on their computers.  CBS, for the first time ever, is making every game in the tournament available online, free of charge.  Online viewership is expected to spike, with much of that viewership taking place in offices around the country and with unknown and unknowable consequences for corporate networks.  The good news is that as broadband network capacity expands locally and nationally, the fears expressed by IT managers today should not be as much of a concern in the future.  It should be noted, however,  that DirecTV is broadcasting every NCAA game in high definition this year.  Will CBS stream the games in high def next year or in the near future?  That prospect could cause sleepless nights for IT managers in the run up to future NCAA tournaments.