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How Do You Quantify the ROI of Network Monitoring?

Dirk Paessler

Return on Investment is a tricky term. It is quite simple to take the total cost of software and amortize it over a period of time. But in the case of network monitoring, that analysis ignores what the software actually does. Put simply, network monitoring gives IT visibility and insight into their infrastructure, helping spot problems before they start, and ensuring uptime and availability. Calculating ROI for such software without acknowledging its impact would be akin to amortizing the cost of a sales enablement tool without considering if it increases sales. A more forward-looking approach that accounts for the software’s impact is necessary, but the analysis is not without its issues.

When used correctly, network monitoring software can prevent a number of problems – mail server crashes, website failures, and network downtime, among others. The benefit to users and IT is obvious, but the effect on the bottom line is more difficult to quantify. Losing email for a day affects productivity, but losing email at 9 a.m. on a Monday is different than 4 p.m. on a Friday. Similarly, a website crash is a disaster if it happens for a retailer on Cyber Monday, but is less of a problem for most other businesses.

There have been studies aimed at quantifying the costs of IT failures. In 2012, industry analyst Michael Krigsman published an article that put the total cost of IT failures on the world economy at $3 trillion per year. A Gartner study from 2014 put a finer point on the issue, stating that the average cost of network downtime is $5,600 per minute, or $300,000 an hour. While the effects of downtime and outages will be felt differently by individual businesses, these studies highlight both the need for network monitoring, and illustrate the financial case that can be made for it.

IT managers looking to make the case for network monitoring in their budgets do not need to use analyst figures or estimates. Instead, they can look at a number of local factors – including the costs of IT staffing, the average time it takes to restore failures, number of network failures in the previous year, and SLAs with various service providers. By arming themselves with data, IT leaders will have an easier time explaining to the business side about the need for network monitoring.

The budgeting process for IT grows more difficult every year. Nearly every part of the business now spends money on technology, and in some cases a great deal of the budget is shifted towards marketing and sales enablement. As IT managers are constantly asked to do more with less, they need monitoring more than ever – it keeps an eye on infrastructure when they can’t. It is imperative that IT departments do not lose out on a critical tool simply because it does not have the eye-catching appeal of the "Next Big Thing". But with hard numbers and a little common-sense thinking, IT can make the case for network monitoring successfully.

Dirk Paessler is CEO and Founder of Paessler AG.

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How Do You Quantify the ROI of Network Monitoring?

Dirk Paessler

Return on Investment is a tricky term. It is quite simple to take the total cost of software and amortize it over a period of time. But in the case of network monitoring, that analysis ignores what the software actually does. Put simply, network monitoring gives IT visibility and insight into their infrastructure, helping spot problems before they start, and ensuring uptime and availability. Calculating ROI for such software without acknowledging its impact would be akin to amortizing the cost of a sales enablement tool without considering if it increases sales. A more forward-looking approach that accounts for the software’s impact is necessary, but the analysis is not without its issues.

When used correctly, network monitoring software can prevent a number of problems – mail server crashes, website failures, and network downtime, among others. The benefit to users and IT is obvious, but the effect on the bottom line is more difficult to quantify. Losing email for a day affects productivity, but losing email at 9 a.m. on a Monday is different than 4 p.m. on a Friday. Similarly, a website crash is a disaster if it happens for a retailer on Cyber Monday, but is less of a problem for most other businesses.

There have been studies aimed at quantifying the costs of IT failures. In 2012, industry analyst Michael Krigsman published an article that put the total cost of IT failures on the world economy at $3 trillion per year. A Gartner study from 2014 put a finer point on the issue, stating that the average cost of network downtime is $5,600 per minute, or $300,000 an hour. While the effects of downtime and outages will be felt differently by individual businesses, these studies highlight both the need for network monitoring, and illustrate the financial case that can be made for it.

IT managers looking to make the case for network monitoring in their budgets do not need to use analyst figures or estimates. Instead, they can look at a number of local factors – including the costs of IT staffing, the average time it takes to restore failures, number of network failures in the previous year, and SLAs with various service providers. By arming themselves with data, IT leaders will have an easier time explaining to the business side about the need for network monitoring.

The budgeting process for IT grows more difficult every year. Nearly every part of the business now spends money on technology, and in some cases a great deal of the budget is shifted towards marketing and sales enablement. As IT managers are constantly asked to do more with less, they need monitoring more than ever – it keeps an eye on infrastructure when they can’t. It is imperative that IT departments do not lose out on a critical tool simply because it does not have the eye-catching appeal of the "Next Big Thing". But with hard numbers and a little common-sense thinking, IT can make the case for network monitoring successfully.

Dirk Paessler is CEO and Founder of Paessler AG.

Hot Topics

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

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In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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