TECHNOLOGY - July 29, 1992

Cost of Computer Down-Time Put at $4 Billion: Just about every consumer has heard those frustrating words: “Sorry, our computer has crashed.” Now, for the first time, a dollars and cents figure has been put on “unplanned computer down-time”--$4 billion a year, according to a study that Stratus Computer Inc. of Marlboro, Mass., commissioned. The company sells systems that provide safety nets against computer crashes. Stratus said the down-time cost figure is sure to increase as companies rely more heavily on computers.