The number of technology companies discussing Single Point of Failure* (SPoF) has increased by 38% in 2022 compared to 2019, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Misa Singh, Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Companies are discussing having diverse data centers from different suppliers along with the duplication of data between these centers to avoid SPoFs. Each supply node, production facility, and logistical link represents a SPoF, which could jeopardize business continuity. Companies are maintaining close working and contractual relationships with key suppliers to avoid disruptions could result in SPoF.”

In the technology industry, eMagin Corp mentioned equipment failure as an SPoF, resulting in production delays. Meanwhile, Backblaze indicated a service outage in storing customer content, using Amazon’s simple storage service (S3), while HIVE Blockchain Technologies mentioned SPoF around the loss of private keys associated with digital currency assets, impacting investments.

SPoF was also discussed in the automotive, energy and retail sectors. For instance, automotive company Embark Technology mentioned its dependency on a single original equipment manufacturer (OEM) as a SPoF. Enphase Energy, a power company, discussed relying on one single source of energy as a SPoF and is utilizing photovoltaic generation along with a traditional inverter to avoid the SPoF. Meanwhile, the retailer The Gap considered its reliance on third-party public cloud infrastructure providers as a SPoF due to the potential security issues.”

* SPoF is a component of a system that can disrupt an operation’s entire system if it malfunctions.