The Hit Trust Takes when Outages Strike

By Michael Cade, Senior Global Technologist, Veeam

Michael Cade, Senior Global Technologist, Veeam

We are seeing a crisis of trust across the tech industry that is centred around companies handling of data – from Cloudfare’s recent outage that saw a vast number of websites across the globe go down, to the big four tech companies facing antitrust hearings in the States.

Recent research by Veeam highlights that almost half of consumers value their data more than the physical items they own. And companies do too, with the likes of Facebook and Google basing their very business models on the use of customer data.

It is no surprise that, for customers, this concern over data has an impact on their buying decisions. More than one-third (39 percent) of consumers admit that they would stop using a product or service if an organisation experiences an outage.

Alongside using data responsibly, companies must reduce the damage of outages by ensuring the availability of stored data and services in order to retain customers.

Consumers are always on, and your business should be too

Customers rely on an always-on offering for many services, meaning that they are accessible across devices, time zones and uses.

When these go down, the cost – both financially and in terms of the trust businesses have worked so hard to build – can be astronomical. Research carried out earlier in the year recorded that UK consumers believe their data is worth £27,000 on average. Data is viewed as personal property, and consumers need the permanent reassurance that it is in safe hands.

In June of last year, a software update to TSB services left thousands of customers locked out of accounts and unable to make payments. The brutal three-week outage cost the British bank roughly £176m, and its chief executive left the company. The case here came down to insufficient testing before the update was launched, but resulted in a huge loss of customer trust and revenue. Now, recent reports suggest that the bank will be closing many stores to reduce costs - further demonstrating the extended financial impact that a severe IT failure can incur.

Outages mean that, suddenly, customers start looking for alternatives, and their trust in the companies is damaged. If an outage occurs, consumers expect for the issues to be resolved within just two hours and 41 minutes on average. That is the same time it takes to fly from London to Paris and back. If an outage drags on, this can often result in permanent switches.

While the UK is currently at the forefront for technology, our Cloud Data Management report found that organisations across the region are only planning to spend £11.2 million ($14m) on deploying Cloud Data Management technologies within the next 12 months. While this figure feels substantial, it is £21.6 million ($27m) less than the global average.

Companies are entering a new era of trust

Both consumers and businesses alike are becoming increasingly reliant on platforms that handle data. From TSB’s outage to the one recently experienced by Sky Broadband which impacted internet connection for parts of the UK for an entire morning.

In today’s data-dependent world, being able to guarantee access to data is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a basic, everyday requirement. Currently, more than half of consumers say that there is not an organisation they trust the most when handling their data. Big fines make big headlines, and with consumer demands ever-growing when it comes to how and where their data is stored, companies who can show they are trustworthy with data will win market share.