In October last year when a denial-of-service (DOS) cyber attack on the DNS provider made many internet platforms and services unavailable, people realized how hopelessly reliant they have become on the internet. However, today businesses have a lot more to worry about as they watch and read about software system glitches. Very recently, some Starbucks stores were closed due to computer system outage because of POS glitches causing caffeine withdrawal throes for customers and probably a strong impact on revenue figures for Starbucks.
In another example, improved technologies in the banking sector have failed to stem the rising tide of fraud in the US, according to a study by analytic software firm FICO. Instead of hiding glitches, more businesses are ready to talk about their issues. For example, explaining a 12% drop in same-store quarterly sales, Rent-A-Center’s CEO Robert Davis said, “Following the implementation of our new point-of-sale system, we experienced system performance issues and outages that resulted in a larger than expected negative impact on core sales. While we expect it to take several quarters to fully recover from the impact to the core portfolio, system performance has improved dramatically and we have started to see early indicators of collections improvement.”
Related: All that you need to know about avoiding software glitches
Similar to the cases mentioned above, software failure can have very serious consequences for businesses which rely on their software systems to keep their businesses up and running. It can stop production, interrupt processes and ultimately lead to financial loss. While we must acknowledge the fact that end-to-end software systems are vital to organizations, their advantage comes with the risk factor. Risk management is therefore key to avoiding software glitches. Research indicates that the number one cause of software failure is human error in application development or programming. With the prevalence of human error, it’s unavoidable that some software will deploy with bugs and errors that slip through the cracks during development. Business leaders may not have control over the source code or the development process, but it is possible to take some steps to prevent software malfunction — and to identify potential problems before they can cause interruptions in day-to-day business. Talk to us to know more.
