Dive Brief:
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IT outages cost companies an average of $750,000 per hour. If, for example, the entire IT staff is out watching "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on opening weekend that could mean overall losses of more than $2 million, according to a Digitate survey on AI application for IT infrastructure. But should companies worry about a "major cultural event" coinciding with IT needs?
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Identifying IT outages takes time. The majority of respondents said it takes as long to identify an outage as it does to watch an entire "Star Wars" movie. The time it takes to identify an IT outage is unpredictable and can span anywhere from a few hours to almost a day. Companies need to increase their uptime and quickly identify outages to stave off costs.
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AI could be the solution to major cultural events getting in the way of tech teams catching and fixing IT outages. Management appeared more open to implementing AI systems to manage IT environments than individual contributors with 43% saying they would use AI.
Dive Insight:
The economic value of uninterrupted and fast IT service cannot be undervalued. For example, an internet that's twice as fast would translate to a 0.3% rise in U.S. economy growth alone.
Many industries are already turning to AI to improve baseline operations and continuity. For example, the airline industry is using AI and ML to run simulations, monitor infrastructure and alert employees if something is wrong and automate workload and resiliency programs.
Most respondents said they would not leave "Star Wars" to handle an IT outage. Other major events, such as the Super Bowl or an eclipse, can also tax IT infrastructure and workforces. More reliance on AI-based systems to monitor IT can help offset the distractions of a human workforce.
