In today’s fast-paced business world, the costs of IT/network downtime can be staggering. Any disruption, from voice to email to unified communications or data transmission can severely disrupt employee productivity, cost you revenue, and negatively affect customer loyalty. Here’s an alarming piece of news – unexpected IT downtime costs companies billions of dollars every year. Voice, email, unified messaging directly affects productivity and sales, and each time your IT network goes down, you lose money. Unexpected downtime is therefore not an option: it is a problem you simply can’t afford. You need to know the problem, the costs associated with it, and what the solution is to keep your IT/network robust and fail-proof.
REAL PROBLEM
When talking about your computer network, downtime is anytime when your staff’s performance is negatively affected by your technology. Small businesses with frequent IT issues know of downtime all too well. A variety of problems can cause downtime and affect your bottom line. Computer and network issues, viruses, power outages, and other IT disasters can cost you thousands, maybe more. An increasing number of businesses today are working with an outdated network either due to neglect or lack of adequate knowledge. Such networks are also fast becoming inefficient and this increases the risk of a major network downtime. In fact, the vast majority of network downtime is caused by preventable failures. Therefore, it’s vital you know how your network is performing around the clock.
REAL COSTS
According to Dun & Bradstreet, 59% of Fortune 500 companies experience a minimum of 1.6 hours of downtime per week and almost 1.3 billion person hours are lost per year globally due to IT downtime. According to Coleman Parkes Research, 48% of companies believe downtime negatively impacts their brand and reputation and 44% believe IT downtime can damage staff morale. This is an essential downside: IT/network downtime has a tendency to seriously affect employee productivity. The longer the time your staff are without an IT server or network features, the longer their work is put on hold. IT projects that need to be completed to deadline will face costly delays or even cancellation. The threat of cyber attacks is also a major concern. Malicious programs, such as spyware, malware, and phishing emails can damage or acquire access to confidential files and folders. Sales functions can take a significant hit if files and folders containing customer details are damaged or leaked.
REAL SOLUTION
Even minimal downtime can compromise productivity, revenues, competitive advantage and customer loyalty. But maintaining a complex communications infrastructures can be a costly responsibility that eats up budget, time and human resources. If you don’t have the time or the inclination to do this yourself, then maybe a managed IT service is the solution for your business. Some business owners do not really consider the procurement of outside expertise, because they deem that there are more important matters to worry about, like the core functions of their business. However, it is very important to consider how time-consuming and costly an unexpected crash or technical error can be to your IT network: your very business and competitive standing could be on the line. For many businesses, remote management can help reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies. With managed IT services, you can avoid lost time, missed business opportunities, and the hassle of dealing with IT issues on your own. In addition, you’ll see improvements to your computer network, thereby promoting operational efficiency.
A reliable network is mission critical to your business. It needs to work every minute of every day for every person in your organization. That is why at TOPS we never let you down; we are dedicated to identifying and designing systems that support your operational needs with reliable and scalable business solutions. In operation for over 30 years and serving the entire British Columbia Interior, we are a one-stop technology centre for small to large businesses.
