The True Cost of IT Downtime for SMEs
For small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), IT downtime can quickly escalate from a minor inconvenience into a critical threat to your business operations.
While large enterprises may have the resources to navigate and resolve these disruptions in a timely manner, SMEs often feel the impact far more acutely due to a lack of resourcing and investment in their IT infrastructure.
It is important that businesses of all sizes, but especially SMEs, understand the real costs of IT downtime, and how partnering with a trusted support provider such as ourselves can mitigate them is essential for business resilience and growth.
The Financial Reality of Downtime
The financial impact of IT downtime is significant and quite often underestimated by small to medium businesses. A recent study by Samsung revealed that UK SMEs lose nearly £300,000 annually due to outdated or unreliable technology, resulting in downtime, with mobile device failures alone costing businesses as much as £226,808 per year.
Small to medium-sized businesses often do not allocate a large enough budget to their IT Systems and Infrastructure; their budgets are often tighter, and margins are thinner. However, it is important to consider that continuing to use older and outdated technology can often put a larger strain on your business if it breaks or if essential software drops compatibility for older hardware.
The UK cyber breaches survey suggests that the average cost of downtime for a small business per incident can be as much as £3,350 for small to medium-sized businesses. With 92% of businesses taking 24 hours (or more) to recover from downtime. These figures demonstrate the urgency of investing in robust IT systems and support structures that can help minimise unplanned outages.
Not all Industries are the same
It is important to consider that these downtime costs are industry agnostic and can vary significantly across different industries, reflecting the unique operational dependencies and customer expectations within each sector.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing industries are particularly vulnerable to downtime, often relying on their IT infrastructure for everything from stock picking to order processing, picking, packing, logistics and much more. Due to the wide-ranging industry sectors that manufacturing firms operate in, paired with the wide-ranging scale of operations, costs for IT downtime can range from around £30,000 to over £1.5 million per hour. Unplanned outages can halt production lines, disrupt supply chains, and lead to significant revenue losses.
Healthcare
In the healthcare sector, downtime can have life-threatening consequences. A 2023 study revealed that Electronic Health Record (EHR) downtime can cost hospitals up to the equivalent of £18,700+ per minute. Beyond financial losses alone, system outages can delay critical procedures, compromise patient care, and expose institutions to regulatory fines.
Retail
For retailers, especially those with significant online operations, downtime can be devastating. Large retailers routinely face losses exceeding $5 million per hour during IT and cyber security outages. Disruptions like these not only impact immediate sales but can also erode customer trust and brand reputation.
In April of 2025, Marks & Spencer announced that it had been tackling an ongoing Cyber Incident which led to issues and delays with its click and collect system, as well as impacting contactless payment in their stores. However, IT and cyber security outages can impact more than just a single business. In 2024, the CrowdStrike incident is estimated to have cost US Fortune 500 companies around $5.4 billion, with UK businesses alone seeing a total of £1.7-£2.3 million in losses.
Operational Consequences Beyond Cost
While financial losses grab headlines, the operational consequences of IT & Cyber Security downtime can be just as damaging.
A 2023 report from Unisys shows that 49% of business employees lose between 1-5 hours per week due to IT issues.
How many hours per week could that be across your business?
it’s also important to consider that downtime can have a significant impact on customer service. Nowadays, consumers expect seamless digital experiences, whether that be online, via app, over the phone, or in-store, and failure to deliver can drive them into the arms of competitors. Statistics show that 33% of customers will switch providers after a single poor experience.
This erosion of trust can be particularly damaging for small to medium businesses where the loss of a single client could impact their ongoing operations. Just imagine if those IT issues affected 33% of your customer base?
Why Partnering with Us can Benefit your Business
We work alongside businesses of all sizes to ensure that their IT infrastructure is not only functional but also resilient and secure from evolving and increasing cyber threats.
Understanding Your Business
For us, keeping your business operational starts from before you even become a client. From the very first meeting, we work to understand your business, who you are, what is important to you, how you operate, and what your pain points are. Understanding your business allows us to tailor our services and solutions to your specific needs. No business is the same, even those who operate in the same industry, so why should your IT support be the same?
Proactive Monitoring and Maintenance
Beyond simply understanding your business, we provide around-the-clock system monitoring to detect and address issues before they escalate. This proactive approach to IT support significantly reduces the likelihood of downtime and ensures that systems remain operational during critical business hours.
Rapid Response and Expertise
Our trained and certified team of IT and cyber security professionals means that any IT issues your business faces can be resolved quickly and effectively. We target a 15-minute first response across our entire customer base, with 98% of tickets resolved within the first hour, and (in the case of one of our largest customers) 82% of tickets taking less than 15 minutes to resolve. Instead of wasting valuable time troubleshooting problems in-house, businesses can rely on our expert support to keep things running smoothly 24/7/365.
Security and Compliance
Data protection and regulatory compliance are non-negotiable requirements for modern business. At TwentyFour IT Services, we ensure that our minimum cyber defence level for all customers is in line with UK Cyber Essentials requirements, meaning any of our clients can achieve this certification should they wish to, or need to for working with their clients. We understand that the security of your business and its data doesn’t just affect your business; poor cyber security and data protection can impact your clients and customers. If your business were to experience a data breach due to poor cyber security, you could lose significant trust from your customers.
Scalability and Strategic Planning
We understand that your business has growth goals, and that as businesses grow, so will their IT requirements. We work with businesses to understand their goals so that we can implement scalable solutions in line with their goals that can adapt to their changing requirements.
Through regular Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR) and Annual Business Reviews (ABR), we can work with your business to ensure we are meeting your growth goals and working with you on projects to achieve those goals. One of our largest clients had around 1,900 users when they joined us in 2020; as of 2025, they have now exceeded 3,700 users. Businesses of all sizes must understand that strategic IT planning, in line with your business growth goals, ensures that technology supports your business rather than hinders it.
If you would like to find out how your business can reduce the cost that IT & Cyber Security downtime causes, book an appointment with one of our specialist business advisors to discuss your business growth goals.