No matter what kind of business you have, you may agree that branding is vital for your business as it enables your business to better connect with your consumers. That said, if you’re reading this, you may be wondering how other factors such as your IT systems can impact your branding.
Your IT systems help power your ability to deliver your services or products. One prime example of this is e-commerce, where your online platforms are run on your servers. Meanwhile, IT systems for other businesses may mean their network systems and cloud systems with data being transferred to and from databases.
Regardless, solid system performance is vital for your business if you wish to keep delivering services and products consistently, especially in an age where user experience matters.
Consequently, failing to deliver a good experience can negatively impact your brand image. An event wherein your IT systems fail and hinder your ability to deliver your services is called a system downtime.
There’re two kinds of systems downtime: planned and unplanned. Planned downtime refers to downtime that is scheduled and announced in advance to conduct system maintenance involving upgrades, repairs, and testing.
Meanwhile, an unplanned downtime occurs when you experience a cyberattack, system failure, human error, or a natural disaster. It may be a result of damaged hardware, infiltrated or misconfigured systems, and/or poor maintenance.
That said, if you’re wondering how a system downtime may impact your brand image, here’s a guide for you:
Benefits Of Planned System Downtime
You’ll find that planned system downtimes are very beneficial for your brand. Your business may have these to conduct maintenance and ensure that your systems are set to perform well.
Moreover, it helps when you have a solid IT team working on it. Thus, it’s worth considering having the best IT support in Salt Lake City like Executech or those available in your area. That said, here are some of the benefits of having planned system downtimes:
Better System Performance
One positive impact of planned downtime and regular maintenance is that it improves overall system performance. This allows your business to be more productive and serve your customers better.
This may benefit your platforms, such as your websites and apps, which are the avenues where consumers interact with businesses. As a result, it shows that your brand provides excellent services and experience.
Helps Build Trust
Another way planned system downtime improves your brand image is that it can build trust. It’s well-established that data security is becoming more critical for businesses and consumers.
Consumers value their data privacy, while companies such as yours may want to maintain your customers’ trust with the data that you collect from them. By properly and regularly maintaining your systems, you show your consumers that you’re taking securing their data very seriously.
Impacts Of An Unplanned System Downtime
Finally, for unplanned systems downtime, the following are the negative effects of one occurring:
Poor Reviews
As mentioned, user experience is vital in today’s digital age, wherein the process of delivering services or products often involves network systems at some point. This is regardless of whether they’re simply involved with data or more such as websites and online platforms.
Thus, in the event of unplanned system downtime, you may have users giving negative reviews of your business, reflecting poorly on your brand image. Several instances of a bad experience may be inaccessible services or slow delivery.
For instance, in social networks, users fail to use the platform and communicate with their loved ones causing them to use alternatives because your platform is unstable. In today’s digital age, the ability to deliver services immediately has become essential for any business hoping to prove that they’re the best.
Consequently, this may also lead to lost opportunities, whether it’s a simple check-out or gaining a potential customer through registration on to your platform.
This will mean a decrease in sales and an increase in expenses. Furthermore, this may just encourage your target market to develop a preference for other brands as they can provide smoother experiences.
Decrease In Confidence In Your Company
Besides the decrease in trust and reputation amongst your customers, an unplanned system downtime also negatively impacts your brand’s image amongst investors.
You may take the recent one-day crash of a well-known social networking platform as an example. Because their platform crashed, and this was reflected poorly on the networking company, their stocks crashed as investors began pulling out.
This is because investors know that a business that is stable and consistent will draw in more customers and thus profit. Therefore, preventing unplanned system downtime is important for your business as it impacts both consumers’ and investors’ perceptions of your brand.
How To Prevent An Unplanned System Downtime
Consider the following ways to prevent unplanned system downtime if you wish to improve your brand image:
Training
One of the ways to prevent an unplanned system downtime would be to train your staff. This is so that they learn how to properly use and take care of the company’s electronic assets, such as hardware and software.
A solid illustration of this would be how unplanned system downtime can be a result of malware infiltrating your system. One of the ways to even have malware enter your system would be to download it or to visit suspicious sites. As such, consider training your staff to improve their online and offline digital behaviors and practices.
System Maintenance
Another way to prevent unplanned system downtime would be to simply maintain your systems regularly. This allows you to keep improving your system’s flaws by identifying issues and vulnerabilities and addressing them. As such, consider this to prevent or lessen cases of unplanned system downtimes in the future.
Conclusion
More than ever, your IT systems’ performance plays a crucial role in how well your brand is perceived. This is because they’re growingly becoming more involved in the process of you delivering your services or products.
Alongside this, a smooth and fast experience is expected by most consumers nowadays as more advanced technology is developed such as faster internet speed.
However, advanced technology isn’t the only factor contributing to user experience as maintenance is also vital. Thus, ensuring that your systems perform well and preventing unplanned system downtime by regularly maintaining them can improve your brand image.
Hopefully, the guide above has helped you learn more about how a system downtime affects your brand image.
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