Connectivity Failure = Business Failure? The High Stakes of Network Downtime

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Greg Davis, CEO at Bigleaf Networks

Four decades of guiding organizations toward growth, and I’ve learned there is nothing more crippling or more preventable than network downtime.

Years ago, internet failures were only an inconvenience; today, they can quickly harm entire industries. Modern operations, from real-time logistics tracking to telehealth appointments, hinge on a reliable internet connection. And when that connection fails, operations halt, customers look elsewhere, and revenues vanish into thin air. This underscores why a robust contingency connectivity strategy has become an imperative for businesses of all sizes, beyond merely upgrading and “increasing bandwidth.”

Keeping Operations Online During Outages

Any CEO who has weathered more than a quarter knows that technology is as prone to disruption as innovation. Blame it on cyberattacks, natural disasters, ISP outages, or flawed software updates—the causes are endless. Forrester’s findings show that nearly nine out of ten companies (88%) took a loss of over $100,000 in just a single month. If that keeps up, you’re looking at $1.2 million drained annually. Even more disheartening, most e-commerce strategy and technology decision-makers from North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific (51%) were bleeding over half a million dollars in that short timeframe before Forrester did the survey. If the internet is your operations’ backbone, downtime directly threatens your organization’s health.

Contingency connectivity strategies, including solutions like Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) and same-IP failover, detect a failing circuit and seamlessly switch traffic to a healthier path. At my company, we offer multiple static IPs and same-IP failover to keep mission-critical applications (like VoIP and video conferencing) functional. In simpler terms, a glitch in one link no longer means your entire operation halts. Whether you’re overseeing five offices or five hundred, preserving connectivity across the board is the difference between minor inconvenience and operational meltdown.

How Network Downtime Directly Threatens Your Revenue Stream

Every executive knows that revenue is the simplest and most complex metric in business. While we often focus on strategic initiatives to boost income, we sometimes overlook how fragile our revenue streams become when connectivity crumbles. An outage as brief as 30 minutes can snuff out an entire day’s worth of sales for an online retailer, or derail a wave of bookings for a healthcare provider. According to Oxford Economics, sudden outages cost businesses a staggering $400 billion annually.

In many ways, these losses aren’t purely about the immediate sales you miss; they also reflect lost trust. When customers can’t submit payments or make appointments, they quickly switch to other options. A well-designed contingency connectivity plan, leveraging features like intelligent load-balancing, ensures revenue-driving platforms remain active, even when bandwidth usage surges. This approach boosts your top line by guaranteeing your systems won’t falter during your busiest moments. After all, if your network is the digital equivalent of a rickety bridge, potential buyers might think twice about crossing it.

Preserving Customer Relationships Through Stable Digital Services

Having observed consumer behavior shift from in-person dealings to virtual everything, I can assure you that expectations for instantaneous digital service are only growing. The healthcare industry, for example, can be as effective virtually as in-person care, but has to rely on a stable connection. If a telehealth session drops mid-consultation, not only does that inconvenience patients, but it also erodes their confidence in your healthcare service.

Other examples are drop-offs in e-commerce sales, spikes in support calls, or negative social media mentions. Solutions like SD-WAN automatically balance network traffic to ensure steady performance on customer-facing portals. Further smoothing out connectivity allows your business to preserve your relationship with your clientele, one stable transaction or appointment at a time. Remember, every glitch is an opportunity for someone to jump to your competitor.

Building Network Resilience Against Modern Threats

The scale and sophistication of cyberattacks continue to evolve, with ransomware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, and data breaches posing significant risks. Any single incident can exact a steep price. Such vulnerability was sharply highlighted in July 2024, as reports indicated that a single flawed CrowdStrike Falcon Sensor update paralyzed some 8.5 million Microsoft Windows machines globally. Major U.S. airlines like Delta, United, and American requested ground stops, which led to over 2,400 canceled flights and 7,000 delays. Times Square billboards went dark. Hospitals and clinics in the U.S., Canada, and the UK had to postpone procedures. Banks, supermarkets, television channels, and even emergency services faced chaos.

This event underscored how a single point of failure can cripple an entire ecosystem. But for organizations with robust failover mechanisms and secondary connections, disruptions can be easily contained. Having a fallback in place can provide much-needed breathing room during a cyber crisis and allows teams to contain the threat without letting it spiral into a full-scale, multi-day operational shutdown.

One example that stands out is Jet’s Pizza, a national franchise that was routinely losing online orders and point-of-sale functionality during peak hours due to unstable internet. After implementing our cloud-based SD-WAN across its locations, they saw a measurable reduction in disruptions. At some stores, a single hour of downtime was costing between $1,000 and $2,000. With consistent connectivity in place, they’ve been able to maintain operations during ISP outages, avoiding revenue loss without overhauling their infrastructure.

The conversation shouldn’t revolve around whether you can afford to invest in contingency connectivity, but whether you can afford not to. Every minute of downtime chips away at revenue, brand reputation, and customer trust. And in an era where critical services depend on stable connections, the stakes have never been higher.

About the Author:

Greg Davis is the CEO of Bigleaf Networks and has served on its board of directors since 2020. With more than 25 years of experience in technology leadership, Greg has a proven track record of scaling businesses and driving enterprise value through revenue growth, operational excellence, and strategic acquisitions. Throughout his career, he has successfully led multiple companies from start-up to over $100 million in annual revenue.

Before joining Bigleaf, Greg served as Chief Operating Officer at HungerRush, a national leader in hospitality software, where he played a critical role in business transformation and growth. Prior to that, he spent eight years as Executive Vice President of Sales at Alert Logic, leading sales, marketing, and other key areas of the business to drive significant revenue expansion.

Greg is recognized for his ability to build high-performing teams and implement strategies that optimize business operations. His leadership at Bigleaf Networks is focused on advancing network optimization solutions, ensuring businesses maintain seamless and reliable internet connectivity in an increasingly cloud-dependent world.

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Categories: Industry Viewpoint · Managed Services