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Networks poorly protected against loss of connectivity, says survey
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09/09/2009
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UK manufacturers are risking costly downtime by not implementing secondary connectivity systems to protect their WANs and internet connections, according to research. 56% have no secondary connection and 80% fear reduced productivity, says the study, which focused on organisations connecting multiple locations and/or supporting remote workers.
51% of the survey, completed by 110 IT executives, admitted that their organisations had experienced at least one network outage in the last 12 months. They also indicated that at least 57% of those outages could have been avoided if a secondary connection had been in place.
Graham McLean, managing director of managed WANs, hosting and Internet services provider CI-Net, which sponsored the study, says: "56% of those we polled said they didn't have any secondary systems to maintain connectivity if there was a problem."
And he adds: "This is all the more surprising, because most organisations are aware that an outage that disrupts connectivity between offices or disables network access for remote workers could seriously hamper their operations.
"In the same survey, business continuity was actually the most frequently quoted priority that IT executives highlighted for their networks over the next twelve months. It rated higher than cost cutting as a priority – which indicates how important staying connected is for many organisations."
Reduced employee productivity, mentioned by 80% of the sample, is what most organisations fear from a network connectivity failure. Other concerns included reduced customer service (56%), damaged reputation (25%) and lost sales (16%).
Remote working is also a growing issue, with 85% of the sample operating networks to support remote workers and 22% maintaining more than 100 people working remotely.
"It is possible to lose connectivity in a number of ways – including physical faults, accidents, natural disasters or even terror tactics," comments McLean. "Some of these incidents, such as cables being damaged by road works, power failures and flooding of underground conduits, are more common than people think.
"And without built-in resilience incorporated into the way organisations access the Internet or support inter-site connectivity, their whole infrastructure, dependent applications and business operations are at risk. To bring in resilience you must ensure you have secondary links that can come into play should primary connections fail."
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Author
Brian Tinham
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