I.T. Failure costs each SME's £10K a year.

Small businesses are losing up to £10,000 a year in lost productivity because their IT systems aren't up to scratch.

So says research by Reuters, which found that regular I.T. failures among small businesses can lead to a loss of productivity, undermine morale among hacked-off workers and damage relationships with punters.

What's more, when I.T. gear does go wrong it's often left to senior staff to deal with the problems.

Said the research: "When I.T. fails, managers are forced to turn their attention away from their primary business goals, and this is especially true in smaller businesses where employing dedicated I.T. staff is not a viable option."

The research also found that most I.T. problems are routine and easy to fix, with seven in ten problems able to be sorted within 20 minutes.

But small businesses suffer long than they should, because they lack experience when it comes to I.T. According to Reuters, the issue is "so significant that many employees see I.T. outages as a barrier to doing their job properly, and often leave their job because of it.

With the cost of labour turnover to businesses averaging £4,000 per person, this represents a huge financial risk to businesses unable to manage their I.T. systems effectively."

Reuters bases its £10K-a-year lost revenues estimate on a Chartered Institute of Personnel Development labour survey from 2002, which calculates that the cost of IT failures to business – mainly caused by decreased productivity - at between 0.1 and 1 per cent of overall revenue. ®

Whether your business relies on a single personal computer or a fully commissioned network, Netstar can provide you with the expert support and attention that your company deserves.

When your I.T. system is down the productivity of your company is reduced leaving you at a disadvantage. Netstar help ensure that your I.T. system is continuously running so your company is operating at maximum efficiency.

>> home