Network Failures are Costing 28% of Global Businesses More Than $5 Million a Year
New findings come from an IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Expereo, “Enterprise Horizons 2025: Technology Leaders Priorities: Achieving Digital Agility,” show network instability is taking a serious toll on businesses, with over a quarter (28%) of both global and U.S. businesses reporting revenue losses of up to $5 million due to network outages or poor performance. Alarmingly, an additional 22% have experienced losses exceeding $5 million.
Following a series of high-profile IT disruptions over the past year, from cybersecurity breaches to connectivity failures, over half (51%) of U.S. businesses have been compelled to re-evaluate their technology infrastructure. Additionally, 42% of U.S. tech leaders say these incidents have pushed cybersecurity up the C-suite agenda, with 40% noting a similar trend for networking and connectivity.
In terms of U.S. business investment priorities, networking/connectivity (40%) is right behind AI/data analytics (41%). Despite the increase in cybersecurity incidents over the past year, networking/connectivity still placed higher on the list of priorities for U.S. tech leaders, demonstrating how poor connections can harm businesses.
The urgency is well-founded. More than one in four U.S. businesses (26%) say that inadequate network and connectivity performance is threatening their growth plans. At the same time, 42% (compared to 21% last year) report that network limitations are holding back their ability to support large-scale data and AI initiatives. Alarmingly, just 7% of U.S. businesses believe their networks are fully prepared to support AI without any bandwidth, application responsiveness or latency issues, and 20% have seen or experienced security incidents related to their use of AI. As AI investments increase, so does the need for better connectivity—30% of U.S. tech leaders list networks/connectivity as an urgent need of improvement.
“To drive a sustainable competitive advantage, connectivity is no longer an IT concern—it’s a strategic business imperative, said Ben Elms, CEO of Expereo. “This research confirms what many technology leaders are already experiencing firsthand: connectivity is now the backbone of business. As organizations race to adopt new AI solutions, the C-suite must treat network performance with the same urgency as cybersecurity and AI itself, because without it, businesses simply cannot succeed."
Having the right talent in place is also critical for building and maintaining the robust network and connectivity infrastructure businesses need to thrive. However, the research suggests this may be easier said than done.
Cybersecurity continues to top the list of areas where U.S. businesses struggle to find or retain skilled professionals (46%), closely followed by networking (38%). This is causing 51% of U.S. businesses to consider increasing their reliance on external partners, such as vendors or managed service providers, to help bridge the networking skills gap.
Source: Expereo