'Skipping a beat on resilience investment isn’t an option any more': IT incidents can cost firms huge amounts - here's how to stay on top of issues

• Most businesses now agree that faster incident recovery could give them an advantage
• Lost revenue, brand damage and missing productivity are all risks
• Two in three companies are aiming for a mix of humans and AI

Two in three businesses risk losing more than £225,000 per hour during major IT incidents, including 65% in the UK & Ireland and 68% globally, and it could be down to how they spread security investments, new research has claimed.

The findings from PagerDuty come as an overwhelming majority (95%) of business leaders globally agree that faster incident recovery and fewer incidents could give them a competitive advantage.

The good news is, things could be on the turn, because 68% of UK&I organizations reported increased operational resilience over the past year, and 71% globally, but what's working and how can all companies catch up?

Resilience is key to security investments

PagerDuty found revenue isn't the only damage that businesses must contend with when faced with a cybersecurity attack or similar – 53% cite reputational damage as the biggest impact, with nearly half (48%) seeing lost productivity as an issue too. Recovery costs (50%) and developer burnout (42%) were popular concerns on a global level.

As for how to be better prepared, four in five (79%) high-growth companies are increasing their resilience budgets, but for companies facing flat or declining revenue, only 48% are increasing their resilience budgets. Clearly, this is a priority investment focus.

"There’s certainly a sliding scale in resourcing, based on what is feasible for any given business, but turning off the taps can spell disaster," CIO Eric Johnson explained, stressing that not all companies are built equally.

In terms of where exactly to spread investment, 41% believe AI could reduce disruptions by more than 20%, and 59% are aiming for a balanced mix of human workers and AI agents within the next three years.

"A blend of human workers and AI agents can help alleviate pressure on strapped teams, and balanced approaches here can surface issues and accelerate analysis effectively, all while preserving the judgment, context, and accountability," Johnson concluded.

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