The cost of network downtime and how to limit it

Maintaining a good quality internet connection is vital for modern business. And there is a real cost to network downtime. But proper preparation can help to limit it and keep data moving through your organisation. We’ll explore the risks posed by an unstable internet connection and what it might be costing you in this 2-minute read.

Calculating the cost of downtime

Data from Gartner indicates that the average cost of network downtime for businesses is $5,600 per minute. This can vary greatly from one company to another, but there are many formulas available to calculate your unique cost of network downtime.” Of course, the most common one is to add up the lost productivity, lost revenue, intangible costs, and costs involved in getting everything up and running again. For an e-commerce or production-based business these costs can skyrocket. Some pundits like TechTarget suggest the total cost of brownouts average at $600k. And the hidden cost of an unstable internet connection is even more insidious when it comes to morale.

Tech issues can cause resignations. During the Great Resignation, a significant driver of leavers was, as Computer World reports that frustration with laptops, desktops, networks, and systems that don’t work well, a trend exacerbated during the pandemic when many remote employees were literally left to their own devices. There’s also widespread confusion about how to proceed when technology doesn’t work. And if brownouts become a part of your organisation’s regular running, you can expect a raft of resignations to shortly follow. But you can limit the impact of outages with a few key initiatives.

Reducing network downtime

Rolling out some of these measures can work to eliminate or limit network downtime:

• Team training: If your systems are managed and configured incorrectly, this can lead to an increased risk of downtime. So, proper administration and training is needed
• Network monitoring: Monitoring your network in real-time can help you resolve any issues before they become potential downtime triggers.
• Disaster recovery: You’ll want to have a documented recovery process so that if something does go wrong, every team member knows their role in bringing operations up again.
• Backups: If you do have a network failure, you’ll want a backup and ways to keep the service going. Whether spare equipment, automated scripts to bring backups on-line, or an “Out Of Hours” IT Network Operation Centre (NOC) function, there will be multiple paths to maintain service in the event of a failure, even if the failure occurs at night.
• Cyber security: It’s a 1-in-5 chance your outage will be caused by a DDoS attack. Having proper cybersecurity protections in place is essential for identifying and preventing potential breaches.

Want more support to identify and prevent network downtime across your organisation? Talk to our helpful team of network configuration experts. We can help you implement the training, disaster recovery, backups, monitoring, and security measures you need to prevent the financial and human capital costs of network downtime. Arrange your confidential scoping call today .