For many small and mid-sized businesses, the year’s end brings a surge in IT issues that can quickly derail productivity. Fewer staff on hand, higher online activity, pressure to hit annual targets, and increased cyber threats during the holidays all contribute to greater downtime risk.
The impact of downtime during this critical period can be costly, with consequences that may affect your business well into the year ahead. But having a trusted managed IT services provider (MSP) like outsourceIT can save your holidays. Let’s take a look at holiday IT downtime, why it’s more expensive this time of year, and how an MSP can prevent it.
Why is IT downtime more common during the holidays?
IT failures spike during the holidays for several reasons:
Reduced oversight
When employees take time off, fewer people are available to identify and report issues early. A minor system delay that would normally be noticed within minutes may go unchecked for hours or days, causing chaos until people get back from vacation and notice it.
More frequent cyberattacks
Another reason this season is high risk is that cybercriminals take advantage of the holidays. Phishing scams disguised as shipping notifications, holiday promotions, or company communications flood inboxes, and hackers breach IT networks with ease thanks to distracted and overloaded IT teams.
Higher IT load
Additionally, your technology infrastructure is under more strain than usual during the spending season. Online sales increase, demand for computing resources spikes, and customers expect fast service. If your hardware, software, or network is poorly maintained, these spikes can lead to slowdowns or full outages at the worst possible time.
The cost of tech downtime during the holidays
Downtime experienced during the holidays may hit harder than other disruptions in any other season. When customers expect fast turnaround and employees are racing to meet annual goals, even a short outage can create costly ripple effects.
IT downtime in the holidays often results in more:
- Lost revenue – The holidays are a time for most companies to get into the black before year’s end, so there are many more sales to miss out on due to downtime.
- Productivity loss – Downtime now prevents employees from wrapping up year-end projects and delays vacation or even payroll, destroying morale and putting you behind before the new year even starts.
- Reputation damage – If you’re the reason for your customers’ holiday stress because your services or support were unavailable when they needed them, they will remember.
- IT expenses – Overtime and emergency calls mean that IT repairs and services cost more around the holidays, especially if you don’t have a managed IT services plan with a set monthly cost.
How managed IT services can prevent downtime for your business
A managed services provider like outsourceIT delivers the proactive protection and emergency services you need to prevent downtime during the holidays. Instead of waiting for problems to occur and charging you overtime, the focus is on prevention, and if something happens, it’s fixed for the same monthly fee you pay year-round.
Keeping an eye on things
outsourceIT provides continuous IT monitoring to ensure that servers, networks, and critical systems have expert eyes on them at all times. If unusual activity appears, like a failing hard drive, a bandwidth spike, or a cyberthreat, technicians receive instant alerts and act before the issue escalates.
Maintaining performance in the background
Regular maintenance is another essential layer of protection so that problems don’t compound over time and lead to downtime. outsourceIT does patching, updates, and performance checks quietly in the background, addressing vulnerabilities and ensuring your systems can handle holiday traffic. This type of routine care is a lifesaver when your own staff is unavailable.
Providing 24/7 support at no extra charge
Finally, outsourceIT gives you access to a dedicated team ready to support you throughout the holidays. If your team is working remotely or just relaxing on vacation, IT help is only a call away. We’re available 24/7, and it’s all included in your regular monthly fee; no surprise charges for the holidays.
With the right MSP watching over your systems, you can enjoy the holiday season with confidence, knowing your business is stable, connected, and secure at the year’s most critical time. Contact outsourceIT for a FREE assessment and find out how our managed IT services can save your holidays.
