Here on the Apex Technology Services blog, we’ve been paying a lot of attention to cybersecurity as of late. After all, the rampant spread of ransomware and data breaches has network professionals across the world on edge—and rightfully so.

April, for instance, saw an all-time high in ransomware attacks. And recently, the list of organizations that have been hurt by data breaches has grown to include the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association and fast food chain Wendy’s.

It’s important to realize, however, that cybersecurity—though critical—isn’t the only risk to system availability that you need to be aware of. In fact, a recent study from CloudEndure, the “2016 Disaster Recovery Survey,” shows that external threats like hacks result in system downtime only 11 percent of the time.

According to the report, the top risks to system availability are as follows:

• human error (22 percent)
• network failure (20 percent)
• application bugs (15 percent)
• storage failures (11 percent)

What’s more, the study shows that many companies are struggling to meet their network availability goals. Just 52 percent of organizations say their company meets availability goals “most of the time.” Even worse, 22 percent of respondents claim they don’t measure service availability at all!

After reading the report, we were curious about the overall impact that downtime is having on these organizations, so we reached out to CloudEndure out for more information. Aside from the fact that downtime is expensive (36 percent of organizations pay more than $100,000 per day or higher on downtime), it also causes many other problems. For example, it can be stressful for IT workers, annoying and burdensome for end users and disruptive to customer-facing processes.

So let’s use this study as a wake-up call. Cybersecurity—though imperative—is just one piece of the puzzle in managing a healthy and cost-effective network. There are many different factors that can lead to system outages.

To mitigate the overall risks associated with downtime, consider using a managed services provider like Apex Technology Services—premier computer consultants serving greater New York City and Fairfield County. With the help of Apex Technology Services, you will gain access to best-in-class network infrastructure, expert guidance from trained professionals and around-the-clock technology assistance.

To learn more about the IT services that Apex has to offer, click here.