How can channel businesses reduce customer downtime

When a routine update rendered over eight million global software applications unusable, American cybersecurity company, Crowdstrike, was thrown into the spotlight. The worldwide outage not only deprived businesses of access to critical tools but also underscored a pressing concern: what can companies do to mitigate downtime when systems are inherently fallible and outages are often beyond their control? 

The incident, which had an estimated economic cost between $300 million and $1 billion, disruptions earlier this year, which left countless businesses unable to access critical tools and customer data, severely impacting their daily operations and client interactions. The unpredictability of these disruptions has highlighted why organisations need to ensure their customer support strategies can withstand potential causes of downtime.

Why Customer Downtime is an Economic Threat

According to recent statistics, 20% of businesses in the UK experienced more than three internet outages in the last year with an expected £17.6 billion economic loss due to connectivity issues. Cybersecurity glitches, hardware failures, poor internet connectivity and software failures are just some of the causes of operation shutdown which can disrupt workflows, increase costs and affect clients.

Beyond immediate financial losses, prolonged outages can erode customer trust, leading to clients seeking more reliable alternatives to reduce the impact on long-term growth. Channel businesses which rely on a smooth service flow face additional risks, especially as partners and end-customers expect seamless, uninterrupted operations. However, outages can strike at any time. As a result, businesses must be equipped with a clear plan of action that addresses both short-term risks and builds long-term resilience. 

The Role of Customer Experience in Reducing Downtime

To manage customer downtime effectively, channel businesses must prioritise transparent communication, agility, and resilience—all of which are integral to delivering a positive customer experience. When downtime occurs, clear and timely communication ensures customers stay informed, minimising frustration and enhancing trust. Agility plays a key role as well, allowing businesses to quickly switch to alternative resources when systems fail, reducing the impact of disruptions. Resilience, built through robust infrastructure, dependable partners and proactive strategies, helps businesses recover swiftly while minimising vulnerabilities.

Adopting a proactive approach to downtime prevention is crucial. By integrating processes designed to identify and mitigate potential risks, channel partners can stay ahead of issues before they escalate. Investing in team training is equally important; upskilling staff ensures they understand the right protocols for managing different types of outages, equipping them to respond effectively and safeguard operations. This combination of preparation, agility, and skill not only helps minimise downtime but also strengthens customer relationships, reinforcing trust and ultimately safeguarding the business’s reputation.

Proactive Strategies to Reduce Hardware Downtime

While downtime's unpredictability makes it difficult to prepare for, businesses can take proactive measures to minimise its effects. Hardware failures, often a key cause of outages, require robust contingency plans, including regular maintenance schedules and rapid-response protocols. Collaborating with channel partners who can provide reliable hardware solutions and responsive support ensures that organisations have suppliers they can rely on during critical periods, offering replacements or repairs and minimising the risk of extended disruptions.

Leveraging automatic failover systems is another key strategy, as these systems can shift workloads to backup hardware during failures and can help maintain continuity across hardware platforms. Channel organisations can also leverage cloud-based infrastructure to strengthen resilience, allowing them to distribute servers and enable operations to continue even if a single server experiences issues.

According to Statista, staff incompetence and failure to follow correct procedures ranked among the top two reasons for global IT outages. Automating response times can also help reduce the likelihood of human oversight during outages by triggering essential systems, keeping clients informed and alerting technical teams immediately. Without automation, businesses risk facing longer periods of downtime and a less coordinated response. 

Moving forward

With service reliability increasingly linked to customer trust and loyalty, channel organisations must be prepared to handle hardware disruptions that threaten operational continuity. Hardware failures due to outdated infrastructure, manufacturing defects or unexpected breakdowns can cause significant disruptions to processes. By leveraging a holistic multi-layered strategy which incorporates proactive hardware maintenance, collaborative partnerships, data security, automation, cloud-based infrastructure, and regular backup systems, companies can effectively mitigate the effects of unexpected outages. 

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, channel businesses need to be more vigilant and prepared to meet unforeseen challenges. With downtime posing a significant economic threat to revenue and reputation, a proactive approach will be key to ensuring that businesses remain resilient, responsive and prepared to meet future challenges.