Downtime Risks to Watch for in 2019

Downtime Risks to Watch for in 2019

There’s a lot to be cognizant of when running a small- or medium-sized business. The word “downtime” is thrown about a lot as something you should be aware of, but preventing it is key to your organization’s health – financially, productivity-wise and more.

Downtime affects everyone. You can’t predict everything. It could be something as simple as your internet service provider having an outage or human error. But how do you prevent downtime from becoming a regular occurrence that begins to harm your business?

Cost of Downtime to Your Business

Small- and medium-sized businesses can measure the cost of downtime using a variety of measures. The most common include productivity lost, employee expenses and how large the impact was on your overall business. You not only lose money remediating the problem, but you also have to continue paying your employees and perform the tasks you set aside while your technology wasn’t working. Some other downtime costs include:

  • Potential employee overtime costs to meet deadlines following a period of disruption
  • Supply chain ripple effects
  • Compliance violations or materials lost
  • Customer dissatisfaction
  • Low employee morale or turnover due to stress/consequences of downtime

What You Should Watch For in 2019

To prevent recurring downtime, watch out for the following areas. If you are experiencing issues with your current IT solutions, you may want to have a conversation with your IT managed service provider or consider changing providers.

  • Gaps in your cybersecurity. Make sure your cybersecurity solutions are up-to-date and fully used. Don’t leave necessary features turned off, such as access controls. Most downtime is caused by an attack rather than a hardware failure.
  • The human element. Human error is by far the most vulnerable area of your network. Training your employees on cybersecurity threats and solutions will go a long way in enhancing your company’s information security.
  • Missing data. If you haven’t moved your business to the cloud already, now is the time to consider making that change. During a time when outages can mean huge financial loss for businesses, the cloud offers a competitive advantage by ensuring maximum uptime.
  • Delayed hardware and software upgrades. Out-of-date workstations and out-of-warranty hardware not only causes downtime, it can also put you out-of-compliance with some regulations.

How Stratus IT Helps SMBs Avoid Downtime

With Stratus’ expertise in providing business continuity solutions to companies of all sizes, you’ll have peace of mind every time you come face-to-face with IT-related concerns. You need to consider your technology as part of your overall business strategy. The two should be aligned to help you grow.

The right IT provider will relieve you of the worries and, more important, the risks associated with downtime. At Stratus IT, we take control and handle all aspects of your company technology, from software upgrades and hardware installations to technical support and system troubleshooting, so you have nothing to worry about. Further, we make sure your technology is giving you the competitive edge.

Is your business experiencing too much downtime? Let Stratus IT take the lead in your business’s risk-based continuity planning. Call us at 801-590-2637 or contact us online today.