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Downtime Costs More Than You Think – Here’s the Breakdown

Downtime Cost=(Lost Revenue+Lost Productivity+Recovery Costs+Reputation Damage)×Duration of Downtime


This data is based on industry research from Gartner, IDC, and ITIC, which analyze the financial impact of downtime across various business sizes.


  1. Small Business (1–20 employees) – Local Shops, Cafés, Professional Services

    • Estimated Cost: $2–$8 per minute ($100–$500 per hour)

    • Main Costs: Employee downtime, lost transactions, IT troubleshooting.

    • Example: A small retail store or law office missing customer calls or payments.

  2. Medium Business (20–100 employees) – Restaurants, Medical Offices, IT Services

    • Estimated Cost: $17–$83 per minute ($1,000–$5,000 per hour)

    • Main Costs: Productivity losses, service delays, customer impact.

    • Example: A medical office losing access to patient records or an IT firm unable to serve clients.

  3. Big Business (100–500 employees) – Hotels, Manufacturers, Banks

    • Estimated Cost: $83–$833 per minute ($5,000–$50,000 per hour)

    • Main Costs: Lost revenue, operational disruption, possible SLA penalties.

    • Example: A manufacturer with halted production or a bank unable to process transactions.

  4. Enterprise Business (500+ employees) – Large Healthcare, Financial, or E-Commerce

    • Estimated Cost: $833–$16,667 per minute ($50,000–$1M+ per hour)

    • Main Costs: Lost revenue, regulatory fines, reputational damage.

    • Example: A national retailer’s e-commerce site going offline or a hospital losing access to critical data.


These costs can be much higher for e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and critical service industries, where downtime can directly impact revenue or compliance.


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