Has your business ever experienced IT downtime? Team Rockie defines IT Downtime as “any unplanned event that stops production. These are often caused by poor maintenance, storage, or network issues, using outdated fractures, configuration & security issues, and client incidents.” Downtime at work may not seem like a huge deal but it can be detrimental to businesses.
Back in 2013, Google went down for 5 minutes costing them $500,000 and a 40% decrease in overall web traffic. In 2017, Delta Airlines had to cancel 280 flights due to downtime that were estimated to cost about $150 million in lost revenue. While most businesses aren’t the size of Google or Delta, small businesses typically have longer and more frequent downtime periods and have a harder time recovering from the lost revenue.
Downtime leads to:
Unhappy/Unproductive Employees
After a while, recurring downtime can overwhelm even the happiest of employees. It affects their flow, schedule, and overall frustration. According to Nexthink, employees lose almost half an hour every time they encounter an IT-related problem. Most IT decision-makers believe employees experience roughly two such issues every week, resulting in 50 wasted hours a year. In a deadline-driven job, this could lead to overtime.
Customer Dissatisfaction
If your clients are paying for a service, and your downtime causes you not to deliver, they will grow frustrated and go elsewhere. According to IT Support Wizzard, “Nearly 50% of customers will move on to a competitor if they encounter downtime of five minutes or more.” And oftentimes, this switch is permanent.
Downtime Ruins Reputation
In the social media-consumed world we live in, everyone’s thoughts and opinions are always being displayed online. If they have a bad experience on your website due to downtime, they could tarnish your name by posting a bad review. It may seem unlikely but it can happen and cost your business future clients.
How Do I Prevent This?
COVID-19 certainly has ruffled the world of IT business, resulting in a 51% increase in downtime since March 2020. It’s time to invest in your future, reach out to us at [email protected] to find out how we can help.
