For modern businesses, there are fewer things that are more expensive than downtime. Recent studies have found that the average cost of downtime per minute can reach as high as $7,011 for large Australian organisations. For higher-risk operations such as healthcare and finance companies, this amount can reach millions. That’s not even accounting for any penalties or charges they might face. Behind the scenes, IT help desk support services are a crucial line of defence against such challenges. They ensure systems run smoothly, and that any issues resulting in downtime are immediately resolved. Join our team at The Grid, as we explore the factors surrounding downtime and how IT help desk support can help mitigate associated risks.

 

The Real Cost of Downtime

The financial costs of downtime extend far beyond the immediate loss of operations. For each hour the situation lasts, companies face multiple types of loss:

  • Revenue Loss: For industries like e-commerce and financial services, a pause in real-time transactions can lead to missed sales, delayed services, and interrupted services that result in immediate revenue loss. 
  • Customer Dissatisfaction: Customers today expect fast and reliable services. For every hour of downtime, more customers are tempted to go looking for similar services from competitors – in addition to their future costs of losing retention to these alternative providers for all purchases thereafter. 
  • Labour and Productivity Loss: When employees lose access to necessary resources because of downtime, their work hours waiting for service restoration are wasted and can lead to missed deadlines or regulatory penalties – giving rise to inefficient labour resources, and wasted use there.  

Common Root Causes of Downtime in Australian Businesses

Mitigating risks of downtime starts with understanding the most common causes behind their occurrences, which include the following:

  • Cybersecurity incidents: In recent years, cyberattacks in Australia have only continued to increase. Beyond causing downtime, these attacks can compromise crucial business information – like staff or customer credentials, sensitive exchanges between businesses – and collect hefty recovery expenses. 
  • Network and Hardware Failure: Smooth systems start with optimised hardware, configured networks, and updated maintenance checks. Without these, systems can crumble and lead to costly fixes. 
  • Software Incompatibility and Bugs: Software and network component compatibility is not only important for a continuous workflow but also to keep systems operating as smoothly as they can to avoid any downtime.
  • Human Error: From accidental file deletions to incorrect configurations in program or product use, people can make mistakes. However, organisations can prevent this through thorough user training and proactive support.

How IT Help Desk Support Reduces Downtime

IT help desk support systems serve as an organisation’s operational safeguard, making sure issues are resolved promptly. Here’s a closer look at the specific ways it helps keep business running.

  • Real Time Monitoring and Immediate Response

IT help desks typically operate on a round-the-clock basis -allowing teams to address common staffing or operational issues, like network speed or individual instances of malware and other malicious threats, before they start to affect operations in a critical way. 

  • Proactive Maintenance and Software Management

Proactive maintenance is one of the keys to maintaining a healthy system free of technical issues. The help desk handles regular system updates, security patches, and software upgrades to ensure this security. They also regularly perform diagnostics to detect potential issues early.

  • Strategic Use of Automation

While IT teams can’t completely rely on automations, these systems can reduce the workload, freeing human experts to focus on more complex issues. Some of these systems include automated alerts, auto-ticketing for recurring issues, and even some level of self-resolution for simple issues.

  • Comprehensive Documentation and Knowledge Sharing

IT help desks meticulously record every detail of incidents, creating a rich database of issues and resolutions. This helps speed up future troubleshooting efforts and serves as a training resource for the team to refine its responses. 

  • Standardised Incident Response Protocols

IT help desks often do the brunt of the work in creating and updating standardised incident response protocols. These improve the team’s overall service quality, leaving minimal room for oversight. 

Key Takeaway

Given the heavy reliance of businesses on the digital market, even a single minute of downtime can drain resources, harm reputation, and disrupt business continuity. For businesses looking to minimise these kinds of risks, investing in support is the right move. 

 

At The Grid, we offer professional, round-the-clock IT help desk support designed to fit your specific business needs and preferences. Protect your business from downtime and significant losses with us now! Contact us today and let’s discuss what we can do for you.