Support.com 2014 Annual Report Download - page 14

Table of Contents
Changes in the market for computers and other consumer electronics and in the technology support services market could adversely affect our business.
Reductions in unit volumes of sales for computers and other devices we support, or in the prices of such equipment, could adversely affect our business. We offer both services that are attached to the sales of
new computers and other devices, and services designed to fix existing computers and other devices. Declines in the unit volumes sold of these devices or declines in the pricing of such devices could adversely
affect demand for our services or our revenue mix, either of which would harm our operating results. Further, we do not support all types of computers and devices, meaning that we must select and focus on certain
operating systems and technology standards for computers, tablets, smart phones, and other devices. We may not be successful in supporting new devices in the connected home and “Internet of Things,” and
consumers and small businesses may prefer equipment we do not support, which may decrease the market for our services and products if customers migrate away from platforms we support. In addition, the
structures and pricing models for programs in the technology support services market may change in ways that reduce our revenues and our margins.
Our failure to effectively manage third-party service providers would harm our operating results.
We enter into relationships with third parties to provide certain elements of our service offerings. We may be less able to manage the quality of services provided by third-party service providers as directly as
we would our own employees. In addition, providing these services may be more costly. We also face the risk that disruptions or delays in the communications and information technology infrastructure of these third
parties could cause lengthy interruptions in the availability of our services. Any of these risks could harm our operating results.
Disruptions in our information technology and service delivery infrastructure and operations, including interruptions or delays in service from third-party web hosting providers, could impair the
delivery of our services and harm our business.
We depend on the continuing operation of our information technology and communication systems and those of our third-party service providers. Any damage to or failure of those systems could result in
interruptions in our service, which could reduce our revenues and damage our reputation. The technology we use to serve partners and the Nexus SaaS offering we license are hosted at a third-party facility located
in the United States, and we use a separate, independent third-party facility in the United States for emergency back-up and failover services in support of the hosted site. These two facilities are operated by
unrelated publicly held companies specializing in operating such facilities, and we do not control the operation of these facilities. These facilities may experience unplanned outages and other technical difficulties in
the future, and are vulnerable to damage or interruption from fires, floods, earthquakes, telecommunications and connectivity failures, power failures, and similar events. These facilities are also subject to risks from
vandalism, break-ins, intrusion, and other malicious attacks. Despite substantial precautions taken, such as disaster recovery planning and back-up procedures, a natural disaster, act of terrorism or other
unanticipated problem could cause a loss of information and data and lengthy interruptions in the availability of our services and technology platform offerings, as our backup systems may not be able to meet our
needs for an extended period of time. We rely on hosted systems maintained by third-party providers to deliver technology services and our Nexus service to customers, including taking customer orders, handling
telecommunications for customer calls, tracking sales and service delivery and making platform functionality available to customers. Any interruption or failure of our internal or external systems could prevent us or
our service providers from accepting orders and delivering services, or cause company and consumer data to be unintentionally disclosed. Our continuing efforts to upgrade and enhance the security and reliability of
our information technology and communications infrastructure could be very costly, and we may have to expend significant resources to remedy problems such as a security breach or service interruption.
Interruptions in our services resulting from labor disputes, telephone or Internet failures, power or service outages, natural disasters or other events, or a security breach could reduce our revenue, increase our costs,
cause customers and partners and licensees to fail to renew or to terminate their use of our offerings, and harm our reputation and our ability to attract new customers. We maintain insurance programs with highly
rated carriers using policies that are designed for businesses in the technology sector and that expressly address, among other things, cyber-attacks and potential harm resulting from incidents such as data privacy
breaches; but depending on the type of damages, the amount, and the cause, all or part of any financial losses experienced may be excluded by the policies resulting in material financial losses for us.
13
EDGAR Stream is a copyright of Issuer Direct Corporation, all rights reserved.