Network downtime is a dreaded term for any organization. It’s not just about the inconvenience of not being able to access resources; it’s about the financial implications that come with it. For businesses that rely heavily on their networks for daily operations, even a few minutes of downtime can result in significant financial losses.

The Financial Impact of Network Downtime

Network interruptions and brownouts are among the most persistent and damaging network performance issues. According to a TechTarget article, the average cost of network downtime from brownouts can be drastic. For instance, undiscovered network brownouts could cost a business an average of $600,000 annually. Brownouts, which are drops in network quality, can result in unexpected downtime because they often go unnoticed by IT teams. In contrast, network outages, which are complete network interruptions, are usually anticipated and accounted for in business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

A survey from Netrounds, a network monitoring software provider, revealed that IT teams didn’t notice more than 60% of network brownouts. This means customers and employees discovered around 40% of brownouts, while 14% went unreported. Persistent brownouts aren’t uncommon. Most survey respondents claimed their networks experienced five to nine brownouts over two years, with some lasting from three to over 10 hours. These interruptions can result in intangible costs for organizations, affecting areas beyond the network.

The top five costs of network downtime include:

Lost Revenue: An organization may lose revenue due to downtime if one of its services doesn’t work, leading to an inability to bill customers or if the quality of service declines.

Employee Productivity Decline: Employees can’t access business-critical applications, such as video conferencing apps, leading to work disruptions.

Reputation Damage: Insufficient quality of service can lead to customer churn, damaging an organization’s reputation.

Monetary Damage: The annual monetary cost of network downtime from brownouts ranged from $250,000 to $700,000 in losses.

General Opex Costs: Network downtime can negatively affect operational expenses.

The Value of SD-WAN and Broadband Bonding Solutions

Enter Mushroom Networks’ SD-WAN and broadband bonding solutions. SD-WAN, or Software-Defined Wide Area Network, is a technology that simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling the networking hardware from its control mechanism. This allows companies to build higher-performance WANs using lower-cost and commercially available internet access.

Mushroom Networks’ SD-WAN solution offers several benefits:

Broadband Bonding: This technology combines multiple internet lines to increase the overall speed and reliability of the network. By doing so, it ensures that even if one line goes down, the network remains operational, thus reducing downtime.

Intelligent Traffic Management: SD-WAN solutions can identify the type of traffic and determine the best path for it. This ensures that critical applications always have the bandwidth they need.

Centralized Control: With SD-WAN, network administrators can manage the entire network from a central location. This makes it easier to identify and rectify issues before they result in significant downtime.

By implementing Mushroom Networks’ SD-WAN and broadband bonding solutions, organizations can significantly reduce the risk of network downtime. Not only does this save money, but it also ensures that businesses can operate efficiently and effectively, even in the face of network challenges.

Here are two relevant Mushroom Networks Blog Posts:

1. Challenges of 10Gb Networks and Solutions

2. Cost Benefit Analysis of SD-WAN

In conclusion, network downtime can have severe financial implications for businesses. However, with the right solutions in place, such as Mushroom Networks’ SD-WAN and broadband bonding, organizations can mitigate these risks and ensure that their networks remain operational, even in the face of challenges. For IT professionals, understanding these solutions and their benefits is crucial in today’s network-dependent business environment.

Jay Akin, Mushroom Networks, Inc. 

Mushroom Networks is the provider of Broadband Bonding appliances that put your networks on auto-pilot. Application flows are intelligently routed around network problems such as latency, jitter and packet loss. Network problems are solved even before you can notice.

https://www.mushroomnetworks.com