The “always on” nature of business — with an increasingly mobile workforce, the Internet of Things and the ability to engage customers around the clock — demands 100 percent uptime. If IT systems aren’t performing optimally, productivity and customer service suffer. If IT systems aren’t available at all, some business functions will come to a screeching halt. As organizations and their customers become more dependent on technology to function, the cost of downtime becomes more severe.
Estimates about the cost of downtime vary because of the number of factors that come into play, from lost data and lost revenue to a damaged reputation. Gartner has estimated the cost of downtime at $5,600 per minute. The Ponemon Institute pegs the cost at $8,850 per minute. According to a survey by Information Technology Intelligence Consulting, 98 percent of organizations say a single hour of downtime costs more than $100,000. You get the idea.
So what is causing the downtime that costs organizations thousands of dollars per minute? Power outages and UPS battery failure can render IT systems useless. Environmental conditions such as storms, flooding and overheating can cause downtime and wipe out an entire business location. Equipment failure involving servers, storage and network connectivity can take down different parts of the IT environment. Downtime can often be traced back to hardware and software misconfigurations and other human errors that can cause systems to become unavailable. Of course, cyberattacks that cripple organizations continue to increase in number and sophistication.
Many causes of downtime, particularly equipment failure, human error and cyberattack, can be controlled and prevented through managed services. A managed services provider (MSP) proactively monitors your IT environment to detect warning signs of technology issues, performance degradation and security threats. The earlier a potential problem is identified and addressed, the lower the risk and cost of downtime. The MSP receives real-time reports on the health and performance of your network and devices and responds to issues quickly, whether equipment needs to be maintained or suspicious activity needs to be investigated. IT systems are monitored 24x7, not just during business hours.
An MSP can also make your organization and systems more resilient to downtime by implementing rigorous processes and following best practices. This will reduce the risk of human errors and shorten response times so issues can be corrected before the impact is felt by end-users and customers. Very often, the problem lies not with the technology, but with how the technology is managed. If your network or system is disrupted, following the proper procedures will make it possible for your MSP to quickly restore your data and applications with minimal if any downtime.
When choosing an MSP, the most important factor to consider is their ability to meet your requirements for uptime. Do they have adequate staff levels to address issues promptly? Have they made investments in robust monitoring and management tools? Does their contract spell out the service levels you should expect? You need to make sure your organization, systems and data are protected in a worst-case scenario.
Verteks Managed Services is focused on minimizing disruptions, maximizing performance, and providing you with more predictable expenses. Traditional break/fix IT services are too risky. Let us show you how our managed services deliver the peace of mind that comes with 24/7 monitoring and proactive troubleshooting.
