Networking

Need to Minimize Costly Network Downtime Try Managed Router Services

According to the Ponemon Institute’s annual report, the average cost of unplanned outages is $8,850 per minute. But, what are you supposed to do when these failures arise? A lot of businesses don’t understand how to handle something like this, or even if it is possible to prevent it in the first place. Luckily, network downtime is entirely preventable, and we’re going to be talking about everything you need to know about it in this article.

What Is Network Downtime?

Network downtime is when your systems are not functioning properly for their primary purpose, meaning that your business cannot operate correctly. For example, if your computer network stops working and you cannot get into any of the data or files that your company needs, this would be counted as downtime as nobody can get their job done.

Downtime can refer to a single application or computer, a single server, or an entire network. The system could be temporarily unavailable, offline or simply unable to operate, but it costs your business a lot of money, even for a short period of downtime.

The Causes Of Network Failure

The leading cause of network failure is actually human error. For example, if someone forgets to update the software, or if the server has not been upgraded to suit all of the data that a business has. Another cause of network failure due to human error is forgetting to regularly add security patches, leaving your business vulnerable.

Old equipment can also be a cause of network failure. If you are using old, outdated equipment, it is bound to be slower, and potentially give up a lot easier than if you were using newer pieces. As such, you should think about updating your tech to avoid this problem.

How To Prevent Downtime

Create a Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan

The first thing that you can do to prevent downtime is to create a disaster recovery plan. This is a document that details what steps are to be taken in the face of unplanned instances. In this document, you will list the crucial pieces of IT and equipment that are going to be needed, outline the steps that are going to need to be taken to restart the business, and also the steps that will be needed to reconfigure the network. This way, everyone knows what needs to be done when this happens, meaning it can be sorted as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Engage in Proactive Monitoring

If you are constantly watching your network, or you hire someone to do this, then you should be able to identify an issue before it becomes a major problem. Getting it early means that you have a higher chance of avoiding it altogether. There are companies that you can hire who will monitor your servers, or you can do it yourself, getting your employees to keep an eye out for anything.

Ensure that if anyone has any concerns, they bring them to you so that you can work out how to handle the issue that is presenting itself. Ensure that you listen to all concerns so that you have the best chance of avoiding bigger problems.

Invest in Managed Services

Managed services are specialist IT services that can aid your business in a number of ways. Managed router services particularly are helpful as it allows an outside company to handle the provisioning, configuration, monitoring of the hardware and any change management when it comes to this.

One of the main benefits of using managed router services is the fact that your company will likely experience fewer issues. When your IT is in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing, you can be sure that you won’t have to worry about all the little things. They will take care of everything for you, protecting your business from threats, as well as constantly keeping the software updated so this doesn’t crash.

Managed services will be able to avoid you having to have costly delays in your business. Every time that your network or server goes down, your business is essentially bleeding money. Managed router services would be able to pick up on the fact that something was wrong, and take every possible step to prevent it. Even when there was no issue in sight, this kind of service ensures that things are kept on top of, minimizing the risk of an issue developing in the first place.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that can minimize costly network downtime!