Downtime Cost Calculator
Use this framework to put real numbers behind outages, whether they are triggered by ransomware, storms, or accidental misconfigurations. When leadership sees the math, investing in prevention becomes an easier conversation.
Estimate each value or pull it from your finance system. Conservative numbers still illustrate the business impact.
Revenue impact
- Average revenue per hour (daily revenue ÷ hours of operation).
- Percentage of revenue dependent on technology availability.
- Lost sales or orders if systems go down briefly vs. all day.
Productivity impact
- Number of impacted employees × fully loaded hourly rate.
- Vendors or contractors who can’t bill when your systems are offline.
- Overtime or catch-up labor once service is restored.
Customer impact
- Number of customers affected × average deal size or lifetime value.
- Service level agreement penalties or refunds you must honor.
- Reputation costs—consider PR, social media monitoring, and retention campaigns.
Regulatory & contractual impact
- Compliance fines (HIPAA, FTC Safeguards, CMMC) triggered by unavailability or data loss.
- Cyber insurance deductibles or uncovered incident response costs.
- Legal fees or breach notification expenses.
Total Downtime Cost = (Revenue loss + Productivity loss + Customer loss + Regulatory costs) × Duration multiplier.
For each duration, plug in your hourly totals. Example: If revenue loss is $7,500/hour, productivity loss is $3,200/hour, customer credits cost $1,000/hour, and regulatory exposure is $500/hour, your one-hour outage costs $12,200. A four-hour outage jumps to $48,800.
| Duration | Multiplier | Example cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | × 1 | $12,200 |
| 4 hours | × 4 | $48,800 |
| 24 hours | × 24 | $292,800 |
| 1 week | × 40 | $488,000 |
Adjust the example cost with your own numbers to present a range of likely impacts for leadership.
Once you know the cost of downtime, stack it against prevention investments: redundant connectivity, immutable backups, incident response retainers, and managed detection services. Even a single avoided outage often funds a year of proactive safeguards.
For board discussions, prepare two scenarios—“invest now” versus “respond later”—and document the delta in lost revenue, recovery expenses, and reputational damage. Real numbers win budget conversations faster than broad risk statements.
Need help validating your assumptions?
We’ll plug your numbers into our advanced model, factor in industry benchmarks, and deliver a board-ready report—no surprise fees. Most assessments uncover at least one high-impact quick win.