Beware The High Cost Of Data Center Outages
By Katie Wike, contributing writer
A single data center outage can cost healthcare organizations $7,900 per minute according to a new study released by the Ponemon Institute
A recent report from the Ponemon Institute, 2013 Cost of Data Center Outages, says the cost of such downtime has increased 41 percent since 2010. This means an outage could cost the average healthcare organization $690,000 per incident, and larger organizations could face costs upwards of $1.7 million.
According to Healthcare IT News, that figures out to $7,900 per minute of outage during an incident. The average incident last 86 minutes according to the study, and the 91 percent of respondents said they had experienced an unplanned outage in the last 24 months.
One such outage occurred in 2012 as Health IT Outcomes noted. “Dozens of hospitals across the country lost access to crucial electronic medical records for about five hours during a major computer outage, raising fresh concerns about whether poorly designed technology can compromise patient care.”
Larry Ponemon, Ph.D., chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, wrote on Data Center Knowledge, “Given the fact that today’s data centers support more critical, interdependent devices and IT systems than ever before, most would expect a rise in the cost of an unplanned data center outage compared to 2010. However, the 41 percent increase was higher than expected. This increase in cost underscores the importance for organizations to make it a priority to minimize the risk of downtime that can potentially cost thousands of dollars per minute.”
EHR Intelligence explains the study’s cost break down shows the greatest percentage are indirect (49 percent) while the remainder are direct (40 percent) or instances of opportunity loss (11 percent). The most expensive of these costs are related to business disruption, which totaled $238,717 and was followed most closely by lost revenue ($183,724) and end-user productivity ($140,543).
“As data centers continue to evolve to support businesses and organizations that are becoming more social, mobile, and cloud-based, there is an increasing need for a growing number of companies and organizations to make it a priority to minimize the risk of downtime and commit the necessary investment in infrastructure technology and resources,” said Peter Panfil, vice president, global power, Emerson Network Power. “This report gives these organizations the data they need to support more informed business decisions regarding the cost associated with eliminating vulnerabilities compared to the costs associated with not taking action.”
An infographic of the report is available HERE at Emerson’s website.
Want to publish your opinion?