Website downtime 'could damage an e-commerce brand'

Reliable web hosting could be especially important for businesses during the recession in order to ensure their website does not suffer any downtime.

Keeping hold of customers requires operational efficiency and excellent customer services, Duncan Harvey, from GoldenGate Software, wrote on Continuity Central.

Meeting these goals is dependent on zero-downtime of business critical applications and systems. An unplanned outage can result in significant losses for a business and damage to a brand, he said.

"Today's increasingly savvy customers want convenience and quality service, regardless of when, where or how they interact with an organisation," Mr Harvey stated, an accomplishment which reliable web hosting could support.

Delivering zero or near-zero downtime could ensure that customers do not go to the competition when a firm fails to provide the service they expect.

Recent research by Redshift Research and Maxymiser found that over 80 per cent of shoppers leave e-commerce websites empty handed because of reasons including a frustratingly slow website.

Written by Greig Daines