According to a report by AIOps automation expert company BigPanda, technology blackouts cost businesses, on average, $12,913 per minute. In addition, the report, prepared together with EMA (Enterprise Management Associates), points out that there is a correlation between the costs of these technological blackouts and the size of the organizations that suffer them. Thus, the Companies with more than 20,000 employees lose an average of $25,402 per minute due to blackouts, which translates to more than 1.5 million dollars every hour.
Of course, the average cost mentioned before, of 12,913 dollars per minute, depends on certain variables. A) Yes, For companies with between 1,000 and 2,500 employees, technology blackouts cost an average of $1,850. per minute. But that amount jumps up to $8,424 on average for those with between $5,000 and $10,000 employees.
Larger companies therefore need to weigh things like potential risks, the number of people it may affect, and even the possibility of having to pay associated fees and penalties, or facing lawsuits.
The first concern of IT executives, as well as leaders, when it comes to technology blackouts, is the problem it causes to the business. This is indicated by 55% of those surveyed. Blackouts force ITOPs, NOCs, and DevOps (or SRE) teams to adopt a reactive posture, and can cause them to lose hours and even days of work.
The impact on employee productivity from technology blackouts is the second concern of managers. This is indicated by 54.7%. In companies undergoing digital transformation, in which apps and services are responsible for an increasing share of revenue, another 43.3% point to lost revenue as an important element of the cost of a blackout.
What, on the other hand, is a “significant blackout”? For 33% it is one that lasts less than 30 minutes, while for another 40% it is one that lasts between 30 minutes and one hour. Another 22% believe that the one that can last up to two hours, and for 9% the one that can last up to four. 5% indicate that it is the one that lasts half a day or more, while for 2% it is if it lasts a day or more.
Assaf Resnick, CEO and co-founder of BigPandastresses that «For years there has been a little-changed urban legend that the cost of tech blackouts is $5,600 per minute, but our research shows it’s actually more than double that amount. In the end, this highlights the importance of first minimizing technology blackouts, and second, moving quickly to remedy them if and when they happen.«.
In addition, he emphasizes that “while technology blackouts cost small businesses less on average, they can be more damaging, as smaller businesses generally have fewer resources to recover from the business impact«.
