A number of businesses are failing to adequately prepare for periods of email downtime, according to new research.
The survey, conducted by Osterman Research for technology firm Neverfail, found that over half of respondents only know they are experiencing email problems when users report issues with sending or receiving messages.
A further 40 per cent of firms said they stand to lose as much as $50,000 (£24,622) for every instance of email downtime, equivalent to almost $1 million a year for each business.
‘The emergence of email as the dominant communications platform signalled a paradigm shift in the way business is conducted, yet companies have been slow to recognise that email should have 24/7 availability,’ commented Andrew Barnes, senior vice president of corporate development at Neverfail.
Earlier this year, research from email continuity solution provider Teneros found that 96 per cent of firms see a significant drop in staff productivity during an email outage.
