Today, even industries like trucking rely heavily on strong computer networks.
Recently, a large distributor in Metro Detroit called us for emergency support. All their servers were down and they had a lot of angry customers. We had not worked with this client in the past so we were essentially going in blind.
The AC had broken in the server room days earlier causing overheating and a forced shut down. This problem could have been easily avoided, but no one was monitoring the servers for warning signs.
To compound the problem, the server cluster had not been set up following “best practices” standards. So when the cluster of servers went down, the active directory controller also went down. This turned what would have been a relatively simple fix, into a major outage.
Lack of monitoring and faulty configuration cost this logistics company 10hrs of downtime. Labor to get the network back up and running cost around $2,000. This was a minor fee compared to the overall damages caused by the outage. If we look at lost productivity alone, being down for 10 hours cost this $50M company around a $137,000. This doesn’t take into consideration any client loss that resulted, or the negative effect on their brand overall.
In highly competitive industries, only the strong survive, and your business is only as strong as your network. The more competition, the less room for error, the more costly each error becomes.
If you caught an employee stealing 130,000 dollars, they’d be fired. So why is it acceptable to let a near sighted tech support team rob you blind? If you’re having issues that are costing you uptime, you’re risking more than your productivity– you’re risking your business.
