The Avoidable Cost of Downtime
Transcription
The Avoidable Cost of Downtime
Research Report The Avoidable Cost of Downtime The impact of IT downtime on employee productivity JANUARY 2011 Table of Contents Executive Summary Page 3 Further Information Page 3 Survey Results Page 4 Productivity Page 4 Total number of man hours lost per year Page 4 Average number of man hours lost per company, per year Page 5 By company size Page 6 By sector Page 6 Research Results Page 7 Impact of downtime on staff productivity Page 7 Impact of recovery time on staff productivity Page 8 Number of staff affected Page 8 Downtime Page 9 Frequency of IT outages (per year) Page 10 Departments affected Page 11 Conclusions Page 12 Methodology Page 13 Calculating lost productivity Page 13 Resources to reduce the impact of IT Downtime Page 14 Copyright ©2011 CA TECHNOLOGIES. All rights reserved. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. This document is for your informational purposes only. CA TECHNOLOGIES assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. To the extent permitted by applicable law, CA TECHNOLOGIES provides this document “as is” without warranty of any kind, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. In no event will CA TECHNOLOGIES be liable for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, from the use of this document, including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, goodwill, or lost data, even if CA TECHNOLOGIES is expressly advised in advance of the possibility of such damages. PAGE 2 Executive Summary CA Technologies has commissioned independent research* to explore European organisations’ experiences of IT downtime and data recovery. Data analysis from the 1,808 organisations surveyed across 11 countries has provided invaluable insights into how organisations are affected by IT downtime. The survey data is being developed into a series of themed reports. The first phase, the financial impact of IT downtime and data recovery, was launched in September 2010. This second phase is focusing on the productivity loss associated with IT downtime. The research shows that throughout Europe**, IT outages are frequent and lengthy. During these periods, business critical systems are interrupted, leading to a drop in productivity of the staff affected and consequently a drop in the amount of work carried out. THE KEY FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH ARE: • European organisations above 50 employees are collectively losing more than 37 million man hours each year through IT downtime and data recovery. On average, each company loses 552 man hours per year. •European businesses collectively suffer from almost 1 million hours of IT downtime each year (956,373 hours). That’s an average of 14 hours per company per year. •During these periods, when business critical systems are interrupted, companies estimate that their staff can work at less than 2/3 of their normal productivity (63%). • Post IT downtime, (i.e. when IT systems are up and running), there’s an additional delay of 9 hours per year at each firm during which time data is still being recovered. Across Europe, that’s another 628,565 hours when business operations aren’t fully operational. •In this post-outage period when data recovery is taking place, staff can still only work at 69% of their normal levels of productivity. Much of the impact highlighted in the research can be avoided through better data protection strategies. This will reduce both the frequency and length of IT outages. Furthermore, many companies endure longer than necessary interruptions to their IT systems, because their data protection policies aren’t robust enough. Organisations often focus their efforts on backing up data securely while neglecting to consider how quickly they can recover their data in the event of a failure. This ‘speed of recovery’ is a good starting point for businesses planning or re-evaluating their disaster recovery needs. * Coleman Parkes ** ‘Europe’ for the purposes of the study constitutes the countries surveyed: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. FURTHER INFORMATION For further information about the Avoidable Cost of Downtime please visit: http://www.arcserve.com/gb/acd PAGE 3 Survey Results Total revenue loss for each country is as follows: PRODUCTIVITY When IT systems fail an organisation’s staff need to find alternative ways to perform their tasks. However, as many business operations are becoming wholly reliant on the use of IT systems and access to networks, any failure often means staff are left being unable to perform their duties. Productivity drops, and revenue generation is negatively impacted. The impact on productivity can be measured by looking at the number of staff affected by an IT outage, multiplying that by the length and frequency of outages, and considering how much of the affected role is dependent on the failed systems. Across Europe this produces some interesting and often alarming results. TOTAL NUMBER OF MAN HOURS LOST PER YEAR Europe 37,160,146 France 13,881,520 Spain 8,310,721 UK 5,495,623 Germany 4,770,937 Italy 4,189,956 Sweden 1,273,375 Finland 899,780 Denmark 851,398 Netherlands 699,660 Belgium 692,511 Norway 629,806 Total man hours lost per year The total number of man hours lost per year through IT downtime and data recovery across all organisations in Europe was calculated as 37,160,146. Countries France loses the most staff man hours due to IT outages. As phase 1 of the ACD study showed, it also loses the most revenue-earning capability. This is most likely due to the design and deployment of large applications serving big populations of users. A single outage affects many people and therefore has a more significant impact on productivity. This “all eggs in one basket” approach to IT comes with risk, and to help reduce this risk, efficient data protection strategies need to be employed that facilitate the fast recovery of data and systems. “The total number of man hours lost per year through IT downtime and data recovery across all organisations in Europe was calculated as 37,160,146.” PAGE 4 AVERAGE NUMBER OF MAN HOURS LOST PER COMPANY, PER YEAR Europe 552 France 1,082 Spain 905 Netherlands 584 Finland 535 Norway 534 UK 502 Denmark 489 Sweden 472 Germany 438 Belgium 300 Italy 223 Average number of man hours lost per company, per year By country Countries “Organisations in France lost the highest number of man hours: 1,082, and Italy the lowest: 223.” Across Europe, the average number of man hours lost per company, per year, through avoidable IT downtime is 552. Organisations in France lost the highest number of man hours: 1,082, and Italy the lowest: 223. One explanation for this may be that Italy has a larger percentage of small and medium sized companies than the other countries (including France), and therefore the number of staff affected is likely to be lower. PAGE 5 Average number of man hours lost per company, per year BY COMPANY SIZE Company size The number of man hours lost on average was lower for medium sized companies (390) than for small (588) or large (630) organisations. This was due to respondents reporting that staff at medium sized companies were most productive during periods of downtime and recovery. These companies also had short data recovery time when compared to other organisations. Although small companies would be expected to lose fewer man hours due to the number of staff in the organisation, when there was downtime they were found to be far less productive than larger organisations. Average number of man hours lost per company, per year BY SECTOR Sector The public sector lost significantly more man hours through IT downtime than any other sector (961 hours). The retail sector lost the fewest as less staff are affected in each period of downtime. These figures illustrate the dependency each vertical market has on IT systems. A significant percentage of staff in the retail sector can continue their primary tasks even during an IT outage. This compares with the high impact on the public sector which has a larger proportion of staff being dependent on IT systems. Another factor would be the governance each sector is exposed to. The finance sector has a large proportion of its staff dependent on IT systems, however, due to pressure from industry and government legislation, they have deployed data protection solutions that enhance the speed of recovery and therefore help maximise the availability of systems. PAGE 6 Research Results Percentage of staff productivity during downtime IMPACT OF DOWNTIME ON STAFF PRODUCTIVITY Countries IT downtime was found to have a significant effect on staff productivity. Overall in Europe, when business-critical systems are compromised, staff could only work at less than two thirds (63%) of their usual level. Across the countries surveyed, organisations in Italy were most productive during periods of downtime (78%) and those in Spain could work at less than half their normal level of productivity (45%). Employees in small companies were significantly more affected than those in either medium or large companies by IT downtime. Staff affected by outages in small companies could only work at 57% of their usual levels, compared with 67% in medium companies and 66% in large companies. There was little variation between vertical sectors in the effect of downtime on productivity. The public sector was the most affected, with employees only working at 59% of their usual level. The finance sector worked at 66% productivity . “IT downtime was found to have a significant effect on staff productivity. Overall in Europe, when business-critical systems are compromised, staff could only work at less than two thirds (63%) of their usual level.” PAGE 7 Percentage of staff productivity during recovery time IMPACT OF RECOVERY TIME ON STAFF PRODUCTIVITY Countries Whilst data is being recovered following periods of downtime, staff could still not work at their usual levels. Across Europe, productivity levels only rose by 6%, from 63% during periods of downtime, to 69% when the systems were restored but data was still being recovered. Similarly to during downtime, Italian workers were the most productive whilst data was being recovered; they reported working at 84% of their usual levels. Spanish workers were the least productive at 47% (only 2% more productive than during the downtime). During recovery time small businesses were again the least productive: 62% compared with 73% for both medium and large businesses. The public sector was again the least productive during recovery time, with employees working at 67% productivity. The finance sector was the most productive: 72%. NUMBER OF STAFF AFFECTED Number of staff affected On average, across Europe, 68 members of staff were affected during each outage. The most were affected in Spanish organisations (91 staff members) and the least in organisations in the UK (45 staff members). Countries PAGE 8 DOWNTIME Average downtime/recovery time (in hours) in the last outage - Average downtime in the last outage Recovery time Downtime Countries Respondents were asked about the length of their most recent IT outage. Across Europe the average was 6.2 hours – the vast majority of the working day. IT outages lasted the longest in the UK (9.8 hours) whilst companies in Belgium experienced the shortest period of downtime (average 3.6 hours). It could be argued that the length of the outage does more direct damage to revenue than the frequency. Short, frequent outages may have a bigger impact on the reputation of an organisation. There was some variation in the amount of downtime experienced between sectors. Companies in the public sector underwent the longest outages on average (7.5 hours) whereas the manufacturing sector had the shortest (4.9 hours). There was little company size variation although small companies experienced slightly longer periods of IT outage than large companies (6.7 hours compared with 5.7 hours). This reflects the roles that IT staff play within different sized organisations, and their relative ability to plan for, and react to an IT outage. Large organisations have traditionally employed large IT teams, with specialist roles focused on availability and data protection. Smaller organisations do not have this luxury, and the IT teams are usually made up of IT generalists who need to manage all aspects of operations. Respondents were also asked about the length of time it took between the systems and applications coming back up, and all data being fully recovered and available. Across Europe the average was 4.1 hours; 2 hours less than the length of the downtime itself. Data recovery time was longest in France (5.4 hours) and shortest in Denmark (2.0 hours). Similar to the length of the outage, companies in the public sector took the longest to recover their data (4.7 hours). The retail sector took the shortest amount of time (3.7 hours). Small companies took significantly longer to recover data after an outage (5.2 hours) when compared with both medium sized companies (3.2 hours) and large companies (3.7 hours). To minimise the impact of the post outage data recovery phase, organisations need to look at the design and the granularity of the backup process. Critical business data should be isolated in the back from less important data, so that the recovery process can focus on the critical systems first. The key is to bring back only what is needed! “Companies in the public sector underwent the longest outages on average (7.5 hours) whereas the manufacturing sector had the shortest (4.9 hours).” PAGE 9 Average downtime/recovery time (in hours) in the last year - Average downtime in the last year Recovery time Downtime Countries Downtime in the last outage and frequency of downtime were multiplied together to calculate the average amount of downtime per company in the last year. There were significant differences between the countries surveyed. The UK and France experienced the largest amounts of downtime in the last year, an average of 27.3 hours for the UK and 23.3 hours for France. There was the least amount of downtime in Belgium, an average of 7.7 hours. There were only small differences between the vertical sectors; the public sector experiencing the most downtime with 17.7 hours. Small companies had more outage time than medium or large companies (16.0 hours compared to 13.7 and 12.9 hours). When looking at the time taken to recover data following IT outages, an additional 9.3 hours per year is added to the downtime total across Europe. France experienced the longest data recovery times (16.7 hours per year) and Denmark the shortest (3.7 hours per year). Frequency of outages per year Frequency of IT outages (per year) Countries Avoidable IT outages occurred an average of 2.3 times in the last year across Europe. There was very little difference by country, although France and the UK experienced the most outages (3.1 and 2.8 respectively). There was very little difference in the frequency of IT outages between either companies of different sizes or those from different sectors. PAGE 10 Percentage of companies affected DEPARTMENTS AFFECTED Department Across Europe the operations department was most affected by IT downtime, with 60% of companies reporting that it was affected by the most recent outage. The finance (44%) and sales (42%) departments were also highly affected. Countries overall gave similar responses to this question. However, some countries particularly mentioned the marketing department (Spain 44%, Netherlands 46%), HR/personnel (Spain 43%, Netherlands 43%, Denmark 42%) and distribution/ logistics (Spain 43%, Netherlands 43%). PAGE 11 Conclusions All organizations are dependent to varying degrees on IT systems. When these fail, it results in an alarming drop in employee productivity. The Avoidable Cost of Downtime research looked into the impact of IT downtime on employee productivity. Not only did it find that downtime across Europe was frequent and lengthy, but that the effect of this downtime on employee productivity was significant. Post-recession, staff productivity is a major headache for employers and employees alike. Many companies cut staff during the economic downturn, leaving the remaining employees busier than ever. Better data protection measures would have a great impact on improving employee productivity. Tips and Advice on Avoiding Downtime and Maximising Staff Productivity • Identify business critical systems and data. The first step in minimising the impact downtime has on the productivity of an organization is to identify the applications and data that directly drive revenue, and the number of staff an outage would affect. All too often organizations take a generic approach to data protection, applying the same policy and process to all data. When a recovery is needed the availability of critical systems is hampered by the need to also recover non-critical data in a generic process. •Design the infrastructure to minimize the frequency of IT outages. For critical business applications invest in infrastructure solutions that provide the highest levels of availability. This will include such technologies as clustered servers replicated storage. • Implement a data protection solution to deliver high speed recovery. Replication and disk-based backup technologies allow faster recovery times. Make sure the solutions in place protect against logical corruption of data as well as physical failure. Granularity of the backup will drive more granular recovery – meaning focus can be given to critical data first. •Work with the right partner. No one solution is correct for every business and therefore it is important to work with specialised data protection partners who can understand the specific needs of an organization and help deliver a complete solution. PAGE 12 Methodology The fieldwork was conducted in July 2010 by Coleman Parkes Research. 1808 online interviews were carefully conducted across the following countries in Europe: Country No. of interviews Country No. of interviews UK 200 Netherlands 201 France 201 Norway 100 Germany 202 Finland 102 Spain 200 Sweden 101 Italy 201 Denmark 100 Belgium 200 TOTAL SAMPLE 1808 Fieldwork was conducted in an equal split across the following vertical sectors: • • • • Finance Public sector Retail Manufacturing Fieldwork was also carried out in an even split across companies of the following sizes: • 50-499 employees (‘small’) • 500-999 employees (‘medium’) • 1000+ employees (‘large’). Online interviews were conducted with CIO/IT directors/IT managers where appropriate across the companies. A small proportion of finance directors were also interviewed to validate the accuracy of the company revenue figures obtained from the IT executives. Where significant differences occurred the final IT data was amended accordingly. Calculating lost productivity The total number of man hours lost due to avoidable IT outages takes into account the total number of hours of downtime when systems are offline, the total number of hours between system restoration and recovery of all data, the impact on staff productivity during both of these periods, the number of staff affected and the overall number of avoidable IT outages a year. Universal estimates for the three different company size categories were obtained from published sources. This data was used to gross up the impact on productivity obtained from the survey. Sensitivity checks completed on relevant survey findings confirmed that it was not necessary to apply company size weights to individual survey records. *Research carried out by Coleman Parkes Research Ltd **‘Europe’ for the purposes of the study constitutes the countries surveyed: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark PAGE 13 Resources to reduce the impact of IT Downtime To find out more about how you can reduce IT Downtime please visit: http://www.arcserve.com/gb/acd Social Media Links – have your say too • Blog • Twitter • YouTube About CA www.ca.com CA Technologies is an IT management software and solutions company with expertise across all IT environments—from mainframe and physical to virtual and cloud. CA Technologies manages and secures IT environments, enabling our customers to deliver more flexible IT services. Our solutions help our customers gain a level of deep insight into and exceptional control over complex, mixed IT environments. It’s that level of insight and control that enables IT organizations to power business agility. About Coleman Parkes www.coleman-parkes.co.uk Coleman Parkes Research was set up over 8 years ago to deliver premium quality, action focused research, specialising in the business-to-business space. The Company undertakes research for service and product suppliers to all parts of the business community including Finance, Retail, Government, Services and Manufacturing. The last of these is a specialist area and with both Directors of the Company having devoted most of their working lives to this sector, the Company is able to offer informed, incisive manufacturing based research that is without peer. PAGE 14