Anyone reading the 2024 Uptime Institute Annual Outage Analysis might let out a sigh of relief at first. The percentage of operators reporting major outages is slightly lower than in recent years. The current estimate is about 55%, which is down from 60% in 2022 and 69% in 2021 (Uptime Institute).

However, the same report reveals that when downtime does happen, it's incredibly expensive. Over half of survey respondents faced a financial impact above $100,000, and 16% saw costs soar past $1 million (Uptime Institute).

You may be asking: Why do these seem to contradict? It's partly because modern infrastructure is more complex, serving more customers at higher stakes. A single outage can now snowball into greater disruption.

This post explores the main 2024 outage trends such as power failures, human error, third-party site vulnerabilities, edge expansion, and climate-driven challenges. As we cover these trends, we'll discuss how they strengthen the case for strong remote monitoring solutions - looking at how purpose-built equipment avoids emergencies.

There are Fewer Outages, But Bigger Consequences

The drop in the severe outages reported might suggest the industry is learning from past mistakes - improving procedures, investing in redundancy, and adopting better monitoring. But the data also shows that the cost of each major outage remains dangerously high (Uptime Institute). If you're in the unlucky group that does get hit, you could face large-scale financial losses, SLA penalties, and even reputational damage.

Complexity Magnifies Impact

Part of the reason a single outage can cause so much damage is that networks have expanded in complexity. A failure in one node might cascade through dependent systems, shutting down revenue streams and critical operations. Even a brief power disruption can force an hours-long restart cycle, leaving your customers offline and your helpdesk swamped.

Rapid Reaction Is Essential

It's not enough just to have a good NOC team. By the time a human notices a small issue and reacts, the problem might already have intensified. Automated alerts and continuous monitoring are incredibly important. If your monitoring system can detect a subtle power anomaly or a rising temperature trend, you can fix it early - before it becomes a six-figure event.

Power Problems Still Dominate

Year after year, power-related failures remain the top cause of major downtime (Uptime Institute). These include:

• UPS Failures: Overworked or poorly maintained batteries as well as flawed designs can cause these failures.
• Transfer Switch Glitches: When a switch doesn't transfer from grid power to a generator, you lose power continuity.
• Grid Instability: Brownouts or voltage spikes that your site infrastructure can't buffer cause inconsistencies.

Despite ongoing advances in uninterruptible power supply technology, these failures are still happening regularly.

The best defense is continuous, automated monitoring of battery health, generator readiness, and breaker states. Catching problems as soon as they appear allows you to prevent a sudden outage that can massively disrupt your production systems.

Human Error: A Persistent Weak Link

A significant portion of downtime events still traces back to human mistakes. According to Uptime's data, about four-fifths of outages involve some kind of process error or overlooked warning (Uptime Institute). Data centers can be incredibly dense with varied hardware and complex protocols, so the risk of configuration slip-ups is always present.

Minimize Manual Steps

Automating routine checks goes a long way toward reducing these errors. An RTU can gather information automatically and generate alerts. If no one acknowledges an alarm within a set window - say 15 minutes - it can escalate to a higher-level manager.

Use Clear, Unified Interfaces

Monitoring systems with a simple, intuitive dashboard also lessen the chance of mistakes. When staff is able to see plain-language alerts and straightforward graphs, they're more likely to notice problems and act quickly. A complicated, disjointed system creates confusion - especially under time pressure when every second counts.

Address Edge Expansion and Environmental Challenges

As data centers extend to smaller, remote, or harsh locations in an effort to push computing closer to end users, operators face new challenges:

• Extreme Weather: Floods, wildfires, and heat waves can disrupt power and damage sites.
• Physical Security Risks: Less-staffed outposts may be prone to vandalism or theft.
• Limited On-Site Presence: Undetected issues can escalate if local personnel are scarce.

Downtime at an edge site can still knock out critical services, like a regional content delivery system or a remote telecom hub. If an AC fails in a small enclosure and no one notices, the rising heat can fry equipment, which triggers a larger network outage. This makes proactive monitoring of power and cooling essential in protecting these widely distributed nodes.

Third-Party Sites and Colocation Providers aren't Immune to Failures

You might assume that colocation facilities or cloud providers make them immune to outages.

Unfortunately, the data reveals third-party sites cause about 10% of reported major downtime (Uptime Institute). If the cooling system at your colocation facility ("colo") fails, or your cloud provider loses power, your services can still go dark despite it "not being your fault".

Independent Monitoring Matters

It's risky to rely solely on a hosting facility's internal monitoring. If your equipment sits in a third-party rack, you need a standalone RTU that independently tracks temperature, door alarms, and power feeds. This direct lens can validate the vendor's claims and alert you the moment something drifts off-spec. Relying on the provider alone could mean you only learn of a problem after it's too late to contain the damage.

2024 Celebrated a Slightly Lower Outage Rate

The 2024 report shows a small dip in the proportion of operators experiencing significant downtime. This improvement likely results from:

1. Industry-Wide Learning: High-profile data center failures have forced standardization around best practices, including regular generator testing and stricter change management.
2. More Redundancy: Larger providers are adopting multiple power feeds, extra UPS capacity, and backup cooling.
3. Better Monitoring Tools: Many have upgraded from basic built-in features to integrated, full-scale remote monitoring solutions to meet their needs.

However, these gains only matter if applied consistently across all your sites. If you leave smaller facilities without the same best practices, they become prime candidates for the next serious incident.

Dependable Equipment Still Matters

Even with overall outage frequency declining, a single event can still cost six or seven figures. That's why the quality of your monitoring systems is super important. When you deploy an RTU or a master station, you're paying for:

• Longevity: Hardware built for harsh climates will keep functioning under tough conditions.
• Protocol Flexibility: A device that supports SNMP, Modbus, or other standards helps unify alarms from all your equipment.
• Rugged Design: Good monitoring gear handles repeated power drops, extreme temperatures, and remote site conditions without failing.

Shortcuts, like using integrated monitoring features in switches or routers, may leave big coverage gaps. A dedicated RTU from a specialized manufacturer allows you to manage alarms with broader visibility and fewer blind spots.

Craft a Proactive Outage Prevention Strategy

A major takeaway from Uptime's 2024 data is that many outages are avoidable. Rarely are they caused by a brand-new threat. Most of the time, it's a buildup of small oversights or neglected maintenance. To avoid any unwanted outages, follow these steps:

1. Map Your Infrastructure
   • Catalog every site - large or small - including all power and cooling elements.
   • Identify which locations have strong remote monitoring and which don't.
2. Set Clear Alarm Thresholds
   • Act before a battery is fully drained or a room is dangerously hot.
   • Define proactive temperature or voltage limits so alerts kick in early.
3. Automate Testing
   • Schedule weekly or monthly generator runs to confirm failover readiness.
   • Have your RTU log and timestamp all test results.
4. Establish Escalation Paths
   • If an alarm isn't acknowledged quickly, escalate to a higher level.
   • Critical outages might require the C-suite to be looped in immediately.
5. Standardize Protocols
   • Consolidate under SNMPv3 or another secure, widely adopted protocol.
   • Make it easier for your NOC team to see all alarms in one interface.
6. Train for Contingencies
   • Even the best tech falls short if staff members don't know how to interpret alarms.
   • Run outage simulations so people gain real-world experience responding to emergencies.

With a proactive plan in place, you can spot weak points long before they become a huge crisis.

Avoid 2024 Outage Trends with Quality Monitoring Gear

DPS Telecom has dedicated decades to remote site monitoring, designing products that align closely with Uptime's annual findings.

DPS manufactures equipment that offers:

• Rugged Power Monitoring: Since power failures remain the top problem, DPS RTUs watch UPS voltages, generator starts, and transfer switch states in real time. The RTUs issue immediate alerts if something goes wrong.
• Human Error Reduction: By consolidating alarms in clear web-based interfaces and optional voice dialers, the gear lowers the chance of mistakes or overlooked alerts.
• Edge and Colocation Readiness: Compact RTUs like the NetGuardian DIN or 216 G6 can fit into small or remote racks. This delivers the same intelligence you'd have in a flagship data center.
• Protocol Mediation: With many vendors in a typical network, a DPS RTU can mediate multiple protocols. This allows you to manage everything under one umbrella instead of juggling incompatible systems.

In other words, the issues Uptime identifies are precisely what these solutions address.

Take Action Now

If you haven't revamped your monitoring setup in some time, Uptime's 2024 data should serve as a nudge. Even if outages are less frequent overall, the financial toll of a single event remains concerning - and could easily blindside those with growing networks.

Here's a quick checklist:

1. Audit Your Monitoring
   • Pinpoint any vulnerabilities. Which sites or devices are effectively invisible to your NOC right now?
2. Evaluate Hardware
   • Look for RTUs that can handle real-world conditions, from voltage spikes to desert heat.
3. Create a Project Plan
   • Outline timelines for installing new RTUs, training staff, and ensuring consistent alarm reporting across all facilities.
4. Seek Expert Input
   • Companies like DPS Telecom can recommend bridging solutions for legacy protocols, advanced alarm logic, and environment-specific hardware configurations.

Use Lessons from 2024 to Prevent Downtime in 2025

A single downtime event can devastate budgets and reputations. Power failures, human mistakes, demanding edge deployments, and colocation risks can all raise the stakes. The best defense is clear: strong, dedicated monitoring that catches lurking threats before they escalate.

Rather than gamble on limited built-in features, invest in purpose-built RTUs that unify alarms across your entire network and feed them into a central system with remote control. By pairing proven best practices with specialized solutions, you can avoid crippling downtime and keep your operation stable.

• Call: 559-454-1600
• Email: sales@dpstele.com

Let's discuss your site challenges, map your vulnerabilities, and design a tailored solution that guards your infrastructure from the high costs of modern outages. It's not just about staying online - it's about staying one step ahead of the next expensive crisis.