As dependency on IT systems and services increases, so too does the threat of system flaws of incorrect maintenance. Recent months have seen multiple examples of highly expensive failures from flaws within IT infrastructure. The need for establishing best practice for IT stability is painfully evident.

Recent public data protection failings while often the fault of human error, have been exacerbated by poorly implemented technology.

When technology is used on a daily process by global companies, often involving huge amounts of revenue, failures can have a huge impact.

Examples such as the recent technical failures of the Nasdaq stock exchange during the floatation of Facebook shares demonstrate the impact of IT glitches. The technical issues saw the potential loss of millions in business and Nasdaq have had to offer as much as $40 million in compensation to investors after trading was delayed by half an hour.

Last week saw two incidents of IT failures that resulted in million pound losses in both cases. Manganese Bronze Holdings who specialise in making London black cabs lost £3.9 million in profits from IT accounting errors.

The company said that system errors had “led to the over-statement of stock and under-statement of liabilities in the financial statements of previous years.” The company declined to mention the supplier of the IT system responsible for the fault. The announcement of the IT failure saw the company’s stock crash by 36 percent.

Accidental trades made by Knight Capital were revealed to be caused by dormant software which activated when a new system was installed. The fault resulted in a $440 million loss for the trading firm. Bloomberg reported that “once triggered on August 1, the dormant system started multiplying stock trades by one thousand."

As financial systems become more dependent on IT services it is vital that these services are maintained properly. While technology advancements occur rapidly, rapid upgrading can cause instability as demonstrated by the losses sustained from Knight Capital’s implementation of new software.

The establishment of clear guidelines and best practice guides for safely employing and upgrading technology is vital to achieving security and stability. With the recent examples of large scale losses resulting from failed technology industry guidelines now have an added urgency.