Infrastructure Slideshow:
IT Downtime Carries a High Pricetag

IT downtime costs businesses, collectively, more than 127 million person-hours per year—or an average of 545 person-hours per company—in employee productivity, according to an online survey of IT and business executives sponsored by CA Technologies and conducted by research firm Coleman Parkes in November 2010. This loss is equivalent to 63,500 people being unable to work for an entire year, according to CA. The survey of 2,000 organizations in North America and Europe also found that IT outages are frequent and lengthy, and can substantially damage company reputation, staff morale and customer loyalty. Despite this, a majority of organizations in North America don’t have a formal and comprehensive disaster recovery policy. “There are a variety of practical and affordable steps organizations can take to protect themselves against the adverse business impact of IT outages,” says Steve Fairbanks, vice president of product management, Data Management, at CA Technologies. “Given that these outages are a fact of life, and that some of the consequences of outages can be irreversible, investments in improved business continuity are extremely worthwhile.”