How many business owners are familiar with the intricacies of small business IT infrastructure? Many business owners understand the results they want, but they don't have the time to properly analyze their IT infrastructure. They set their focus on business growth and relationship development, often ignoring the risks associated with having poor IT services.
If a business has a server crash, what is the estimated time it takes for IT service to be restored? A week? A few days? A few hours? How much is downtime costing your business? Many people believe it requires trained technicians who need to physically be on the premises to make repairs. With today's technology, however, the need for on-site repair is not always a necessity. Today, business owners can be operational within minutes, by using proactive business technologies. A health professional’s office server went down, but because of their strong IT infrastructure that implemented proactive technology, they were back up and running before they even knew there was a problem.
Server downtime can cost businesses hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per day, but it goes beyond simple cost. It impacts customer and employee satisfaction. It leads to longer wait times, and it can cost clients money – or turn them to the competition. If a small business owner is willing to invest a small amount more each month for a strong IT support, these problems would not be an issue. Instead of two or three days of downtime, servers could be up and running in 30 minutes.
Statistically speaking, it isn't a matter of if servers are going to fail; it's a matter of when. It can take a few months or a few years, but even the most state-of-the-art servers will eventually fail, and the business will suffer if proactive measures aren't implemented.
An orthopedic practice with more than 100 employees recently had a major server failure. Parts were not available, and the practice suffered three days of downtime. That meant that their electronic medical records system was in read-only mode for three days. Doctors and nurses couldn't update patients’ medical files during that time. The downtime impacted productivity, employee and customer satisfaction, payroll and countless other services.This could have been avoided with the right small business IT infrastructure.
It all comes down to a simple question: How much does downtime cost your business? A proper IT infrastructure can drastically reduce downtime, but it comes at an additional cost each month. It requires process, people and technology, but it's not just a matter of cost. It's about realizing how important swift and reliable service is to clients and customers and how much that is worth to the overall business plan.
Key Takeaways
- A server failure or other IT problem doesn't have to last days. Downtime can be drastically reduced with the right technology and process.
- Downtime impacts more than just the bottom line, including employee morale and customer satisfaction
- Is a small amount of additional capital invested each month for services worth keeping these problems from happening? That is something only a business owner can decide.
