You are at work and your computer is giving you troubles again. You spend an hour trying to fix the problem only to experience more frustration and extended downtime. Downtime is something business owners deal with on a regular basis. It not only costs them money, but effects their productivity as well. On an average, businesses lose close to 20 hours annually to IT downtime and 545 hours annually to staff productivity due to IT outages.

Downtime is one of the problems we hear about the most when we consult with business owners about their IT. It prevents you and your employees from getting any work done or worse, causes your network server to go out, and brings everything to a halt. Infrastructure matters. When your network or applications crash, it can paralyze your business. It also has a direct impact on your bottom line. If you lose data, it could put you in a position of going out of business. Do you know what the costs of IT downtime can have on your business?

According to Gartner, the average cost of having our server down is around $5,600 per minute. Because there are so many factors relating to how businesses operate, the average downtime on the low end per hour is $140,000 and the average is $300,000. Any interruption in your business can effect your bottom line. On the average, interruptions consume an average employee around 238 minutes per day. No business is immune to these expensive costs. So what do you do?

Prepare for IT Downtime

Here are some steps you can take to mitigate downtime:

• Make sure you have a backup in place in the event that your server crashes.
• Ensure your laptop batteries are fully charged so you can continue working for a few hours if needed.
• Have a backup generator in case of a power outage. This will also help so your server doesn’t crash in the event of an outage.
• Configure updates when they are due on your server.
• Make sure you are within server warranty period. If you are out of date, it is hard to get support for outdated equipment.
• Reboot server during off hours to avoid work interruptions.
• Spray your server with an air can from time to avoid dust buildup.
• Make sure you have an internet backup source.
• Talk to your IT guy about

Protek takes downtime seriously. We offer full remote backup and disaster solutions for each of our clients, regardless of their size. We also monitor critical systems 24/7/375 to avert small issues before they become larger ones. Our team of skilled techs ensure your systems are always updated to ensure your safety and avoid costly downtime. We run each of our clients through a yearly 500 pt. performance technical alignment review. This help us to develop and maintain technical knowledge of our client’s environment. We build a strong standards library to identify technical risk and minimize reactive issues. If you would like help with your network, call us at 801.999.4767.