Mrs. Meier is angry because she cannot print important documents. Mr. Müller has an international meeting with one of the largest sales partners, but can't get to the server to retrieve his presentation. All technicians in the field are at a standstill because no appointments can be viewed. Nothing works anymore! Best case scenario? A partial failure. Worst case? A total failure.

The cost of a network outage

Have you ever wondered what a total network failure can cost your company? The costs are rising by the second. A study by research institute OnePull found that a network outage costs an average of €41,000 per hour for companies up to 5,000 employees in size. The study was conducted in January 2020 with 500 IT managers in North America and Europe. Furthermore, participants were asked about the frequency of these outages. More than half, 58 percent, experienced four or more network outages lasting longer than half an hour in the past year.

Minimize failures through prevention and control

A network failure does not have to be and is preventable in most cases. With a network monitoring system, the network can be monitored and possible error sources proactively controlled. For example, if a network switch fails, the source of the fault can be identified immediately in the monitoring system and a replacement device can be deployed as quickly as possible. Without a monitoring system, troubleshooting can cost valuable time.

The basis: An IT contingency plan

The IT contingency plan is a kind of manual that deals with instructions for action and emergency measures in the event of problems with IT. With the help of such a plan, downtimes can be shortened and the damage caused by IT problems can be minimized. An emergency plan always includes technical, but also organizational information. The following questions should be clarified in advance:

• what are the effects of the failure of a particular IT system?
• what downtime can be tolerated?
• what to do to restore the function of the systems?
• who is to be informed in case of problems?
• how to reach people or companies?

After more than 25 years in the IT industry, we know that the challenges and complexity of your IT structures are constantly increasing. We are happy to support, advise and accompany you in the implementation of a network monitoring system. This way, you will not only benefit from an increase in your failure and data security, but also from immediate reactions in case of emergencies through our escalation management.