Is ignorance bliss? The true cost of a computer meltdown

I purposely gave this post 2 distinct titles. 

Is ignorance is bliss? And the true cost of a computer meltdown. 

2 separate subjects that’s are related.

Is ignorance is bliss? 

For me as an IT manager I am happy to be ignored. This is not because I am being anti-social more that I am left to my own devices, to fine tune and maintain the network and servers without being disturbed.  

I remember working with a previous FD who to begin with, I didn’t really see eye to eye with. I thought she was rude and I didn’t like the way she spoke to me at times. But once we got to know each other, over time we had a mutual respect for each other. She inadvertently paid me a compliment without fully realising that I have always remembered.  She told me that she had been watching me as I worked. She admitted that she never completely understood the IT infrastructure  She sat on the desk behind me for several months and saw the constant production line of new or broken laptops and the multiple screens of servers. And, more importantly the lack of downtime during her being there. I remember her telling me that only a few people really knew what I done but she understood it was important and relevant to the running of the company.

The flip side to this and the only time that IT really gets noticed is when the sh*t hits the fan and a central server crashes or the electricity gets accidentally switched off or whatever disaster may happen and then it’s all eyes on IT.  

Which leads to my next question. 

What’s the true cost of a IT meltdown?  
Mathematics is not my strong point but I will try to explain.

Example 1.

Let’s say we have a company that employs 80 people. They are each paid £1500 each month. £120,000 in total each month. £1.4 million annually.

Average wage per person per week £346.00. Around £70 per person per day.

Over the weekend, the air conditioner dies in the server room and the servers over heat and blow a circuit.  The mainframe server dies and the network and servers grind to a halt. The IT manager loses what little hair he has left and 80 pairs of eyes are on him, while the office staff twiddle their thumbs and pretend to look busy.  It takes an hour or so to find out that the main server has died. He can get it replaced but it will take a day to arrive and then another day to configure and install.  

A minimum of 2 days at a push with the staff still twiddling their thumbs making calls and not getting very much done. 

So, using my bad math's above. 

Day 1 will cost £5,600 in wages alone.

Day 2 Install and configure at £5600. 

Then another 2 days minimum to catch up. Let’s say £5600 at half functionality. 3 to 4 days disruption, at a cost of around £16800 in total. 

This is a very basic example and my math probably does not add up but none of this includes the loss of revenue and sales. Production costs and downtime. Sales and Service disruptions.  The figures would more than likely be a lot higher and not too mention the bad impression that the customer would get if we couldn’t process orders or raise a service call?

We can try to prevent scenarios like this by introducing redundancy.  Redundancy means that if one server dies or a hard drive fails, another server or hard drive can take over.    With the introduction of virtual servers this was greatly improved.

Most virtual servers have 2 hosts.  Each host can support a number of servers.  If one host fails, the other virtual servers migrate to the working server.  The downside is that the effects performance.  Imagine a airplane flying with one engine.

This is why its best to be proactive with IT hardware.  Prevent the issues before they happen. Virtual hardware can be expensive, at a cost on average of around £25 to £30K but consider that the hardware should last a minimum of 3 years probably longer. 

£10K per year to keep the business afloat might not seem so expensive after all.  And I can go back to being ignored.  Cheers.