How much is poor connectivity and downtime costing business?
There’s no doubt that the internet and emails are an integral part of every day business life, not to mention online banking, cloud-based CRMs, phone systems and card payment devices. So much so that life can simply stop when there are connectivity issues or internet blackouts.
A report by the telecoms firm Daisy Group found that 47% of managers thought they rarely or never suffered from poor connectivity, when in fact companies are experiencing an average of 45 minutes downtime every week.
How much is poor connectivity and downtime costing business?
The report found that this is equal to more than £500 per employee, per year, in lost productivity. A prior study, earlier in the year by OnePoll found that slow internet connections and IT downtime is costing the UK economy £11 billion a year in lost productivity. And a study by Aberdeen Group UK found downtime cost an average of £138,000 per hour, varying across industries from £55,000 per hour in the media sector to £3.91 million per hour for large online brokerages. The costs come from paying employees to simply do nothing, to paying an individual or firm to fix the problem and of course any lost sales. There are also hidden costs such as employee overtime, missed deadlines, damaged reputation and customer dissatisfaction.
What’s the problem?
The problems can often be simple ones such as faulty modems, damaged wires or corrupted profiles. These kind of issues can normally be resolved in a day or so, even a few hours. One survey of UK, US and Canadian firms found that 82% of network downtime problems were caused by IT personnel making errors when configuring changes to the network. An irritating truth, when you know the majority of these kind of errors could have been avoided with more diligence or experience. With the rise of joint space and co-working environments wi-fi connectivity can be an issue. Owen’s Garage is a co-working space in the US and Kurt Rathmann, CEO of ScaleFactor Partners uses it regularly. Inevitably there are connection issues now and again and he eventually calculated that a four hour internet outage could be costing him up to $3000.
What do employees get up to during this downtime?
• 60% – taking care of personal business
• 48% – taking an extra coffee break
• 25% – checking Facebook
• 7% – indulging in a spot of retail therapy
• 9% – looking for a new job
• 30% – swoting up on some work-related reading
What should managers be doing?
The survey also asked managers what they thought they should be doing about such issues. One in eight said they didn’t know, 17% said they’d review things when the contract is due for renewal and another 17% said they would only review things when staff make a complaint. Really, as businesses change and grow, connectivity should be reviewed regularly and in line with these changes to ensure processes aren’t being held back by slow internet connections.
The government have committed to upgrading broadband for many of the UK’s cities and superfast broadband is spreading fast as providers compete. Having a connection that is built with your specific business, users and activity in mind is important to make sure it will work for you. If you need to hire IT professionals to advise or become part of your in-house team, speak to us and see how we can help. 0207 099 4839
About
Langley James – Leading IT Recruitment Specialists
Here at Langley James we are specialists in IT recruitment and whether you are working with us for the very first time, or you are one of our many loyal clients, we take time to understand exactly what you are looking for. You will receive the same exceptional level of client care each and every time you return to us.
We have a simple guarantee: we will deliver a shortlist of between 3 – 5 candidates within 5 working days for permanent staff and within a couple hours for contractors. Not only will these candidates be qualified to perform the role, we will ensure that they share your company values and ethos.
To discuss your IT recruitment needs and help you find your next superstar. Call us on 0207 099 4839 or email us at langleyjames@langleyjames.com.
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Langley James is aiming even higher this year
We have doubled our candidate attraction advertising budget for this year, these are the job boards and social media, we are continuously advertising building our network of the best candidates rather than just getting a snapshot of those candidates that are looking at that moment in time. We have appointed an in house trainer/coach to further develop our existing staff and ensure a continuity of service is delivered from out new joiners in the Langley James way.
We are having a record breaking January, already exceeding our previous best with 2 role being filled from taking the job spec to the candidate starting with 12 hours
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