Network Downtime: Causes, Consequences, And Remedies
Network downtime is one of the major problems many businesses have to deal with in today’s modern world. Technological failures and outages result in a bad user experience and millions of dollars in damages.
Fortunately, there are many ways on how to prevent network downtime. Regardless of the size of your business, you can benefit from getting help from the experts. For example, if your business is situated in southeast Queensland, Australia, hiring managed IT services Brisbane can offer will keep your systems running efficiently. Moreover, it’s wise to know the causes, consequences, and possible remedies for network downtime.
Causes Of Network Downtime
While some business owners may think that a broken server is always the reason for an outage, there are other causes of network downtime, and these include the following:
- Security Breaches
One of the primary causes of network downtime is security breaches, which can make your network vulnerable. In addition, security failure may affect the network through damaged equipment or hardware theft.
- Understaffed IT Departments
Many distinct tasks should be performed to keep your company’s servers, apps, and network running smoothly. If your business doesn’t have enough staffing for managing or monitoring updates, it may lead to network downtime. Keep in mind, no matter how big or small your business is, your company needs support from an IT department for more efficient and productive daily operations.
- Incompatibility Of Hardware-Software Server
Sometimes, network downtime is due to servers that are outdated in contrast with the new software they house. Often, IT managers attempt to stay on top of the evolving technology and hardware, but they fail to update old software or hardware.
Servers may also experience outages, which result in network downtime because of the incompatibility of operating systems. To avoid major downtime, businesses have to ensure they keep up with both hardware and software updates.
Consequences Of Network Downtime
When your network goes down, there can be some consequences for your company. Employees can’t access the information or tools they need to get their jobs done. Your customers, teams, and stakeholders can’t communicate. Depending on the causes of your network downtime, you may need to shut down your operations for a day or so.
Below are the other consequences of network and internet outages:
- Losses In Productivity And Revenue
Often, lost revenue is the biggest consequence of network downtime. Once the systems fail, they impact the ability of a business to earn money and carry out its operations. In fact, for each hour of downtime, your business will lose potential profits.
Moreover, there are intangible costs related to profitability, which may include the loss of future sales, reputation, current customers, and a drop in your stock prices.
- Security Risks
If your system is down, another consequence you need to deal with is the potential security risks. This is especially true when your system is breached. Once it happens, your business is vulnerable to attacks, and you may risk running into some compliance problems.
Remedies Of Network Downtime
Luckily, most of the common causes of network downtime are preventable. Here are some of the remedies you can consider:
- Use A Backup Power Connection
All buildings lose power at some point. And when it happens, it can cause your workers to lose a few hours of unsaved work. Even if the generator takes a few seconds only to work, the interruption may lead to lost files. To avoid power failure, make sure to use a backup power connection by implementing a series of uninterruptible power supply (UPS). It offers backup battery power to your network infrastructure, which works automatically when the power goes offline.
- Evaluate Your System For Both Internal And External Weaknesses
If you often experience network downtime, one of the remedies you should consider is to evaluate your system to know where the problem originates. For example, if your office is out of power, you have to know if it’s due to a damaged fuse or other electrical problems. If you can’t determine the primary cause of your network downtime, it will be difficult to resolve this issue.
So, when strengthening your system to avoid downtime, think of the possible internal and external threats. Besides, it’s useless to implement a more sophisticated solution if your network goes down because someone constantly trips over a misaligned network power cord.
- Choose Enterprise-Level Network Infrastructure
Several businesses try to save on costs by choosing low-grade hardware over high-quality enterprise network infrastructure. Although considering an enterprise-level network infrastructure may require a huge upfront cost, it’s worth your investment.
This is because it can make a difference in keeping your network running efficiently. Aside from that, high-grade equipment helps businesses maintain reliability, which means your workers’ tasks won’t be affected by slow connections.
Wrapping Up
Network downtime affects your company’s bottom line which can pose security risks and affect your credibility. As a business owner, it’s essential to address network downtime immediately. Find out its causes to prevent further damages and resolve them as soon as possible.
If you want to ensure your business won’t experience network downtime, 24/7 monitoring and proactive assessment of software and hardware statuses are crucial.
