Web site downtime will cost UK business £715m in 2002, a 26%
increase on last year, research from The Yankee Group released this
week suggests.
The analyst firm said the cost is likely to run into billions, as
these figures do not take into account indirect costs such as loss
of reputation or future sales.
The report, commissioned by managed service provider Worldport,
said the main causes of Web site downtime are technical - failures
of the power supply, network, physical infrastructure or lack of
adequate security, and human - poor set-up and administration,
monitoring or recovery planning.
These problems are magnified when Web sites are managed in-house,
said the report's author Scott Smith, suggesting that companies
should consider outsourcing Web site hosting. "External service
providers are able to provide significantly higher levels of
stability and redundancy," he said.
