More and more businesses these days are now online. By going online businesses do earn more profit by expanding their customers. While there are innumerable perks of taking a business online there are a few downsides as well.
Unexpected downtime can cause huge losses to businesses. When networks go down no matter how small or big your business is, it will face inconveniences and losses as well.
Network downtime can cause loss of productivity, loss of opportunities, damage to the brand as well as data loss. Therefore taking appropriate steps at the right time is very crucial to prevent such breakdowns.
In this article, we are going to discuss some ways which will help you prevent business downtime.
Foolproof ways to prevent network downtime
Loss of power or the internet can prove damaging for many businesses- big or small. Here are some foolproof ways to prevent your business from crippling due to network downtime:
Backup is the way to go
The very first thing you should do is to get a backup. IT problems will not ring a bell before barging in, they come without any warning and you should be prepared. The best thing to do would be to install a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply). Even generators can take a couple of seconds to work properly once the power goes. A few seconds of loss of power can mean the loss of hundreds of important files. Installing a UPS will prevent you from mishaps.
However, it is important to know that UPS will be functional only for a limited amount of time. It acts as a temporary power supply for your systems. Therefore you should also have a backup generator along with UPS.
Inspect the external as well internal weaknesses of your system
Another very important thing that you should do to prevent network downtime is to inspect the external and internal weaknesses of your system. In case your business has experienced downtime in the past then try to know the root cause of the problem.
Without knowing the root cause of the downtime you will not be able to solve the problem completely. For instance, when you will not know whether your power was cut because the fuse blew or something else, you will not be able to work to solve the problem.
Apart from inspecting the system, you should work constantly on strengthening your current system. Think about all the possible threats to your system then try to work on them one by one.
Say hello to colocation or cloud services
Have you ever thought about what will happen to all your important files stored in your system if they get destroyed due to flood, lightning, storm, fire or any other disaster? These disasters can lead to massive data loss and it will cost your business- both in terms of money and time- to recover from such incidents.
There is one way to prevent your business from going through such a tragedy, and that is by saying hello to the colocation or cloud services. Cloud services are housed in colocation centres that create backup copies of all the important files in various geological regions.
This is a far more convenient and safer option than storing all the important documents in a single place. Cloud services also offer location security which helps in preventing data theft.
Have a superfluous network connection
There are ways in which companies can manage the loss of internet connectivity for a couple of hours. However, it is advised for IT support companies to have a superfluous network connection.
By superfluous network connection, we do not mean wireless or wired connection from the same provider. Instead, we are suggesting a network connection that uses different network carriers and providers.
This would essentially mean that even if one network is facing difficulty others will quickly pick up. This is a great way to prevent the loss of important data especially for those businesses who heavily rely on systems.
Afterword
Network downtime can prove very damaging to your business in the short as well as long run. Thus it makes sense to invest some extra time and money to prevent losses that might occur due to network downtime.