Amir Hashmi, CEO and Founder of leading IT and Cloud services provider zsah, discusses why business owners should outsource their IT management if they are to avoid IT system failure
Efficiency is at the heart of a successful business strategy; this is a universal truth and one that certainly extends to IT management. System downtime is the antithesis to efficiency because when your system is offline, everything else stops, too, and this does not come cheap.
These facts are more valid now than ever before. Due to the host of pandemic technologies businesses have had to use, digital tools are intrinsic to every successful business function right now. Therefore, your business deserves constant attention, not just when a problem occurs; IT should have a critical eye passed over it constantly to ensure it is up to scratch.
Top performance does not come from just fixing faults – it comes from a team of pros dedicated to improvement. This leads us to managed IT support services: your team of IT experts that not only fix issues when they occur but also constantly improve the software and hardware, so there is less chance they ever take place.
The real cost of downtime
When the systems are down, you are not only wasting any money you’ve invested in your IT; you’re also probably making no profit, potentially reducing productivity to zero, and risking your company’s reputation to stakeholders, clients, and customers.
In 2017, ITIC sent out an independent survey to measure downtime costs. It found that 98% of organisations say that a single hour of downtime costs over USD 100,000, with 81% putting the figure at over $300,000. For 33% of businesses, 60 minutes of downtime would cost their firms between $1 million and $5 million.
Figures from Statista.com reveal 24% of organisations worldwide reporting average hourly downtime costs amounting to between USD 301,000 and USD 400,000, with 14% reporting greater than USD 5 million in costs.
Elsewhere, IHS Markit surveyed 400 companies and found downtime cost them a collective USD 700 billion per year – 78% of which was from lost employee productivity during outages.
Managed IT solutions are the key
Though the exact cost is impossible to calculate, downtime is a significant issue – for individuals, companies small and large, and even national economies. Don’t wait until downtime strikes; employ dedicated IT professionals – and not just to fix issues, but also to constantly improve your setup, so you run at maximum efficiency.
When you work with a managed technology services provider, your network and infrastructure are supervised 24 hours a day, all year round. As with any IT service, issues will be fixed – however, the real advantage is more long-term. As technology service providers perform regular proactive upkeep, there will be a reduced chance of suffering from issues in the first instance. When (or if) they do occur, it will be far simpler to recover data thanks to full cloud integration.
Wanda Rich has been the Editor-in-Chief of Global Banking & Finance Review since 2011, playing a pivotal role in shaping the publication’s content and direction. Under her leadership, the magazine has expanded its global reach and established itself as a trusted source of information and analysis across various financial sectors. She is known for conducting exclusive interviews with industry leaders and oversees the Global Banking & Finance Awards, which recognize innovation and leadership in finance. In addition to Global Banking & Finance Review, Wanda also serves as editor for numerous other platforms, including Asset Digest, Biz Dispatch, Blockchain Tribune, Business Express, Brands Journal, Companies Digest, Economy Standard, Entrepreneur Tribune, Finance Digest, Fintech Herald, Global Islamic Finance Magazine, International Releases, Online World News, Luxury Adviser, Palmbay Herald, Startup Observer, Technology Dispatch, Trading Herald, and Wealth Tribune.