Digital platforms and applications now form a core part of modern business, with companies reliant on such tools for quality customer service and optimal employee performance. Damaged, breached, or outdated IT infrastructures can thus have crippling effects on an organization’s growth and client relationships, and in worst cases, shut down their business altogether.
Digital investments are especially critical in the healthcare sector, where customers place confidence in how their private data are managed.
Below, we explore the major costs of IT downtime to any business, and how Healthy IT’s tech solutions can help prevent these.
Loss of productivity
With most, if not all, businesses now dependent on digital tools and systems, having a slow or damaged IT infrastructure can dramatically hamper your employees’ performance. In an age where the majority of companies use some form of cloud service, the need for stable networks and internet connections has never been more critical. The inability to access these platforms can cause your operations to grind to a halt, resulting in lost opportunities for profits and meaningful work.
It’s also important to note that a single, faulty element in your IT system can impact the workplace as a whole. For example, if a content creator is unable to access their project files, your marketing team may struggle to release a new campaign on time. Meanwhile, an accountant’s inability to access your business’s accounting software prevents them from completing financial reports they may have due.
Ensuring the health and quality of your business tech can thus keep day-to-day operations and individual processes running as smoothly as possible, maintaining worker productivity and value creation.
Loss of revenue
As mentioned, with lost productivity comes lost opportunities for profits. IT downtime can leave your employees with little to do but wait for systems to resume their functions. This drains your business of valuable productive time, curbing your ability to serve, assist, and cater to potential customers, thus resulting in lost revenue. According to Gartner, IT downtime can cost a business an average of $5,600 per minute.
Despite your employees’ inability to continue working, the same operating and labor costs must also still be paid, leaving you with expenses of little to no value. In worst-case scenarios, workers may take time off or resign altogether, resulting in both lost time and added costs of recruitment and training.
Additionally, with your business restricted in its operations, competitors are given the chance to get ahead, robbing you of potential customers and market opportunities.
Loss of data
With power outages, hardware failure, and cybercrime as typical causes of IT downtime, your business faces a high risk of losing valuable, confidential data.
While cloud service providers offer automatic backups as a safety net, unpredictable outages can still disrupt the process, leading to permanent data loss or corruption. Poor security can also lead to unexpected cyberattacks, compromising your business’s and customers’ private information. These breaches can also cause havoc on your systems through malware and other viruses, resulting in further repair and data recovery costs.
Without mission-critical data on hand, your company will struggle to continue operations with the same productivity and efficiency, eventually leading to customer dissatisfaction, stunted business growth, and lost revenue.
Loss of customer trust
IT downtime not only impairs the day-to-day tasks of your business, but also its public reputation.
Due to restricted services, your customer satisfaction levels will likely plummet, urging patrons to seek their needs elsewhere. Tech issues may also prevent your employees from responding to customer complaints or inquiries, further damaging your client relationships.
Downtime caused by a data breach will also prompt customers to jump ship altogether. In a report by Frost & Sullivan, 48% of consumers stopped using a company’s services once a data breach was detected. Yet such incidents continue to plague businesses, with 48% admitting to having experienced a publicly disclosed customer data breach.
Ensuring the stability and security of your systems is thus critical to growing your customer base while maintaining strong relationships with your current ones.
Looking to upgrade your IT systems?
With the world gone digital, quality tech is now key to a successful, reliable business, especially in fast-paced industries like healthcare.
Help your practice perform at its best through Healthy IT’s range of tech solutions, including cybersecurity, data backup, Voice over Internet Protocol solutions, and managed IT services. Book a free consultation today for guidance on your tech needs and recommended investments.
