Hold-ups in delivering info cost firms millions

Companies are losing millions of rands due to delays in downloading information or lags when opening large documents, with staff productivity dropping as they wait to work.

So says Dwayne Nortmann engineering auditor of Dimension Data Enterprise Systems.

"If one assumes each staff member - in an organisation of 1 000 personnel - earns R5 000 a month, with each employee spending approximately 10 minutes per day waiting for documents to open, a company would lose an astounding R1.25 million per annum from accumulated loss of staff productivity," says Nortmann.

This excludes the time forfeited when computers freeze owing to lack of memory or bottlenecking in the system.

"In fact, this figure is probably well over R2 million per annum as a R5 000 salary is very conservative if one considers who uses computers these days," adds Nortmann. "Even the estimated loss of 10 minutes per day from waiting, is very low."

To assist companies in countering this, Dimension Data Enterprise Systems offers a comprehensive audit of standard hardware, company databases, applications and operating systems, to investigate the company`s overall usage of infrastructure.

The audit analyses status and performance of the system and applications, highlighting bottlenecks and weak points in the datacentre. Dimension Data`s experienced team then provides practical recommendations to improve the overall efficiency of the infrastructure.

"We`ve identified how to assist companies save on bottom line costs and create improved work productivity by effectively enhancing the performance of their complete infrastructure.

"Often, the solution to most operational inefficiencies and system blockages is a simple one, merely requiring strategic performance and optimisation techniques in order to improve overall areas of usage," Nortmann says.

"However, if the only solution is a system upgrade, resulting from an organisation outgrowing its RAM, servers and hard drives, Dimension Data is more than equipped to advise, connect, integrate and implement the complete solution," he says.

*For the purpose of this loss in revenue study, taking a five-minute break from one`s desk is classified as a voluntary and often necessary pause during the working day and not as an additional cause of loss in productivity. The loss described above is a direct result of forced wastage of valuable time when a staff member`s work activity is physically halted by a hold-up in getting information from the hard drive or server.