According to a HIS Markit study, information and communication technology (ICT) outages cost North American businesses over $700 billion a year. The cost is substantial – with mid-size companies losing over $1 million a year to $60 million in lost earnings for larger enterprises. The main cost of downtime? Lost productivity and lost revenue.

Another staggering statistic? It’s estimated that e-commerce sites lose $260 billion a year to poor user experience with checkout systems. Optimizing checkout experiences, especially on mobile devices, can have a big payoff by reducing cart abandonment and increasing conversion rates. Many studies have shown up to a 20% conversion increase due to proper UX improvement and testing studies.

Do you know how much downtime, lost productivity due to lagging software, and poor usability impacts your business?

If not, you should.

The good news? Preventing lost productivity and lost revenue by investing in good software is far less expensive than going through the actual experience.

How can you decrease this lost profit?

  1. Invest in Reliable Software. The nature of your software needs, of course, depends entirely on your business model. There is no denying that software plays a critical role across all departments, internal and external communication models, and often as a very part of the business model itself.

To determine which software programs in your company may need to be updated, it’s important to conduct regular audits, consider employee evaluations and surveys, and complete departmental time studies to learn the source of potential bottlenecks or hindrances to productivity.

The same can be said for external user experience or user interface studies. A small investment in upgrading experience can lead to large conversions and large revenue increases.

  • Test. And Test Again. The business world is an ever-changing landscape. And technology is no different. As the recent mobile and AI shifts have taught us, as soon as you think you’re done testing, it’s probably time to start again. By focusing on continuous improvement, you’ll ensure your business is leading the change – not succumbing to it.

  • Invest in Your Staff. If you have an internal IT or development team, it is essential to keep them on top of new technologies and marketplace solutions. Conferences and continuing education are important to driving people-led change. After all, your team is your greatest business asset.

  • Outsource Your IT Management. Too often, internal IT and development teams end up with their focus diverted across multiple projects. Consider hiring an outside company to work alongside your internal team. Bringing in additional resources, advanced knowledge, and an outside perspective can help facilitate needed change, ensure all systems are running efficiently, and even prevent cases of downtime and lost productivity and revenue in the future.

Considering a continuous improvement or software project in the near future? Get in touch with our team to today for an affordable, knowledgeable solution.

Source: https://technology.ihs.com/572369/businesses-losing-700-billion-a-year-to-it-downtime-says-ihs