6 Major Causes of IT Downtime

IT Downtime can affect your business productivity. It will affect the performance of your critical IoT devices and network elements. You should know about the major causes of IT downtime. This will help you in avoiding IT downtime in the future.

The digital industry is expanding with time. Most companies are using digital technologies for expanding their business. Thus, IT Downtime has become a major concern for small and medium-sized companies. Companies can lose millions of dollars due to IT downtime.

According to a survey by Infonetics Research, medium and large businesses are losing more than $100 million per year due to IT downtime. If your network and applications are down, then your employees can’t work. Thus, you will lose a lot of revenue due to IT downtime. Small businesses are losing more than $4 million every year. In this article, we are going to discuss the major causes of IT downtime.

1. Human Error

IT downtime mostly occurs due to human errors. According to a survey from ITIC, more than 49% of IT downtime actually occurs due to human errors. The only problem with human errors is that they are not completely avoidable. However, human errors mostly occur when your employees are not following standards or protocols.

You can avoid the human error by training your employees. It is important to document every task. Ongoing assessment will ensure that your employees know about the latest device configurations, security challenges, and updates. You can also implement secure access policies. This will ensure that attackers can’t hack your network. Most companies have a BYOD policy. Thus, you should ensure that you are following the standard policies.

2. Internet or power outages

It is difficult to avoid power or internet outages. Sometimes your entire can go down due to power outage. These outages are mostly unexpected. However, you can always prepare for power and internet outages. This will help you in reducing the impact of these outages.

Large enterprises can also use a backup generator. However, smaller businesses can’t afford a backup generator. Thus, they should go for cloud-based or off-site server hosting. This will help you in mitigating the losses caused by an outage. You can also explore the redundancy option.

Many companies have zero tolerance for downtime. If you are operating in the healthcare sector, then you can’t tolerate downtime. Thus, you should contract with a cable internet provider and FiOS or fiber-optic internet service provider. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about internet outage.

3. Hardware Failure

Sometimes your hardware can also fail. If your servers are not working, then your employees can’t complete their work. It will halt your business operations. The cause of failure is mostly hardware that you need to repair or replace. This process can also take days. The time period will depend on your service level agreement and provider.

You can avoid hardware failure by having a certain redundancy. The best way to achieve redundancy is by duplicating your hardware like firewalls, switches, routers, and networks. If your hardware fails, then you can switch over to other devices. This will help you in reducing IT downtime. You should also regularly assess your devices. If you think that your devices are going to fail in the near future, then you should replace them.

4. Cybersecurity threats

The number of cybersecurity attacks is increasing with time. You can use measures like multi-factor authentication, fraud detection software, spam filters, and file encryption for protecting your network. These measures will help you in protecting your data and network from attackers.

Most SMBs don’t have access to an IT security team. Thus, they should consider working with an MSP like Bleuwire. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in creating a security strategy. They will ensure that your network is protected from attackers. Your partner will help you in implementing the right security measures. This will help you in reducing the possibility of human errors.

5. Instability of Server

Sometimes even your new server can be unstable. You might think that LAN or WAN is working properly. However, still, your server will be unstable. This mostly happens when your IT team is trying to use the latest technology with old hardware.

Servers can crash due to various reasons. Some of the common reasons are firmware upgrades, bugs, hard disk platter damaged, power supply glitches, and faulty ram. You can avoid this issue by regularly monitoring your network. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire will regularly monitor your network for issues. If your server is not working properly, then they will help you in optimizing it. They will maintain a healthy environment for your network.

6. Old Server OS

Sometimes IT downtime can occur because you are still using a very old server operating system. Most IT managers try to update their technology stack. They will look for the best software and hardware available in the market. However, they forget about updating their outdated software. Servers can also go down if you are not using a compatible OS. Make sure that you are using a compatible operating system.

Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire will regularly monitor your critical devices. This will help you in avoiding IT downtime.

Conclusion

These are the main causes of IT downtime. However, you can easily avoid them by working with a good MSP. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in minimizing downtime. They will take proactive measures which will help you in avoiding downtime in the first place. In the case of IT downtime, they will help you in recovering your system. Thus, they will help you in minimizing the damage caused by IT downtime. They will also protect your business from cybersecurity threats. If you need more tips regarding minimizing IT downtime, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.