Most Irish businesses have no back-up in place in case of connectivity system failure
As much as 80% of businesses around Ireland are failing to acknowledge the criticality of connectivity by not having an appropriate back-up system in place.
The research, conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes on behalf of Magnet+ to coincide with the launch of its Magnet Duo connectivity solution, found that of 270,000 SMEs 216,000 businesses are leaving their systems vulnerable to significant loss in the case of a connectivity malfunction or system failure.
Recent CSO figures show that the IT sector has an average hourly labour cost of €48.39 meaning an IT related business with a team of 50 could lose productivity worth €2,419.50 per hour – working out at almost €20,000 per average working day (€18,146.25). Similarly, businesses outside of the IT sector with a team of 50 could also be impacted financially if they are without the appropriate connectivity back-up according to CSO figures.
John Delves, managing director of Magnet+, is calling for the immediate implementation of a new industry standard that requires all telecommunications companies to provide two lines of broadband at all times to guarantee 24/7 connectivity.
“If you don’t have connectivity, you can’t operate as a business – it’s as simple as that,” said Delves. “That’s why I’m totally shocked by the figure that 80% of businesses don’t have a back-up system in place. Every day we’re seeing the real-life impact that connectivity failure has on businesses and it’s these failures and the alarming results of our research that led us to develop our new service Magnet Duo, Ireland’s first fully guaranteed Internet connection. This means whatever happens – burst pipes, freak weather, or broken cables – two lines will keep you connected and working. Guaranteed. It’s a direct, dedicated line to the internet – think of it like a private jet, exclusively owned by your business. So, if your power supply stays on, we guarantee your Magnet Duo connection will too – and you’ll keep working and trading smoothly and seamlessly.
“At this stage, you would assume that businesses understand the criticality of connectivity to their business but the figures from our research show that they really don’t. I’d urge every business to do a trial – cut off their connectivity for just five minutes and assess the chaos that unfolds. That should be enough to encourage any business to review their connectivity options and ensure they are protected in the event of an outage.”
Magnet+ also found that the most common issues businesses have with their telecommunications provider as well as the key services that businesses are most interested in receiving. The biggest problem for the majority of businesses (35%) is being left on hold when trying to contact them, while 23% report the biggest issue with their telecommunications provider is not being able to physically get through to them.
Subsequently, the top two services businesses require from their provider include wanting their calls to always be answered by a person in real life (74%) as opposed to a bot and to always be able to get through via the phone (70%) when contacting their provider. The reoccurring theme from these results relays the message that no matter how far technology advances in the telecommunications sector, the human element is still the top priority for customers.
Other common issues evident from the research include:
- Broadband being unstable or down is the biggest issue for 30% of businesses
- Having to get the same problem resolved multiple times is the main issue for almost one third of Irish businesses (27%)
- Not knowing when a problem will be resolved (27%) or who is in charge of the problem (25%) are main issues for a significant number of Irish businesses
- Almost 20% of Irish businesses say not being updated on the current status of an issue via phone is the biggest problem they have with their provider
Other services businesses are interested in from their connectivity provider include:
- More than half of businesses (56%) place significant importance on being able to have a live chat (i.e., instant messaging) with their provider
- Almost 40% of businesses value being able to track the status of current issues live
- Over one quarter (26%) would like a dedicated portal to review their account
- Just 17% of businesses are interested in the ability to have a video chat with provider
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