Unanswered IT tickets are not just minor delays in the corporate routine. Each ignored request can halt simple tasks, delay strategic projects, and force teams to resort to improvised solutions that fall outside the technology department's control. The result is “invisible loss”: a loss of productivity and internal costs that do not appear in financial reports but corrode companies' efficiency.
Imagine an employee waiting for access to a system to be granted: while the ticket remains in the queue, this employee cannot complete their tasks, which in turn delays the team's and the associated project's deliverables. In many cases, colleagues try to work around the problem, taking on extra work or finding“”technological workarounds" to move forward. This improvisation might provide a quick fix, but it creates new problems – from misaligned processes to security risks.
Without responsive support, teams also become more prone to interrupting workflows and losing focus. Minor technical failures, such as a frozen computer, an offline printer, software needing an update, among other common cases, become bottlenecks when they do not receive prompt attention from IT.
Thus, downtime ceases to be a rare and critical event and transforms into several daily micro-disruptions that, when added up, consume a significant portion of the company's productivity. The result is a spiral: the more tickets pile up, the more time is lost on delayed tasks, clarifications, and rework – a hidden operational cost that grows silently.
Drop in productivity
A global survey by Unisys and HFS Research showed that nearly half (49%) of employees estimate losing between 1 and 5 hours of work per week dealing with IT issues, such as equipment failures or system unavailability. In the Brazilian context, the numbers are equally high. According to the “The New World of Work” study conducted by Edelman, commissioned by ServiceNow, professionals in Brazil state they dedicate 48% of their work time to operational tasks that could be automated – including solving IT or connection problems. On average, this equates to 7 weekly hours lost on low-value activities that could be avoided or accelerated by digital solutions.
Furthermore, the same Unisys survey revealed that 42% of companies admit they do not even measure the productivity loss caused by IT problems. That is, nearly half of the organizations lack visibility into the productive time draining away through the “leaks” of ineffective support.
The financial weight of reactive support
Although difficult to see in daily operations, surveys attempt to estimate these hidden costs. A recent survey on IT operations in Brazil revealed that companies with a reactive support stance spend an average of R$ 2,847 per resolved ticket when accounting for all the time spent on diagnosis, specialized labor, business impact, and involved rework.
To stem this invisible loss, companies need to adopt better internal service practices, starting with defining a solid internal SLA. An internal Service Level Agreement is nothing more than a clear agreement between the IT department and business areas, establishing response and resolution deadlines for different types of tickets and urgency levels.
Furthermore, modern systems offer automation and self-service, suggesting solutions to the employee right when opening the ticket and freeing up the support team for more complex issues.
Ultimately, investing in agile and efficient IT support is not a “cost,” but rather savings. It means reclaiming hours of productive work, meeting deadlines more consistently, and avoiding emergency or redundant expenses. It also means a less stressful work environment, where technology boosts – rather than hinders – productivity. Internal costs may be invisible on spreadsheets, but their effects on the business are very real. With the right tools, this invisible loss can be contained, transforming IT from a hidden bottleneck into a strategic ally of organizational performance.
By Luciano Costa, co-founder of Setrion and Milldesk Help Desk Software
