How businesses can avoid a major software outage

Avoiding major software outages is an essential goal of business resilience plans in any industry. As recent events have demonstrated, major software outages are an ever-present threat in our increasingly digital world. From business operations to personal communication, the reliance on software and cloud infrastructure is only increasing.

Outages can disrupt services, cause financial losses, and damage brand reputations. Understanding the causes of these outages is crucial for preventing them and ensuring smoother, more reliable tech operations. It’s also critical to have a strategy in place to address these outages, including both documented remediation processes and observability capabilities to help you proactively identify and resolve issues to minimize customer and business impact.

Here are six of the most common causes of major outages, and what organizations can do to avoid them.

Eliminate software bugs

Software bugs and bad code releases are common culprits behind tech outages. These issues can arise from errors in the code, insufficient testing, or unforeseen interactions among software components.

Moreover, the complexity of modern software systems exacerbates the risk of outages. As applications become more interconnected, the potential for failures increases. A seemingly minor bug in one component can have far-reaching consequences, potentially bringing down entire systems or services.

Organizations can prevent software bug-related outages by implementing automated testing, continuous integration, regular code reviews, and robust quality assurance processes 

Prevent cyberattacks

Cyberattacks involve malicious activities aimed at disrupting services, stealing data, or causing damage. These attacks can be orchestrated by hackers, cybercriminals, or even state actors.

The landscape of cyber threats is constantly evolving, with attackers developing increasingly sophisticated methods to exploit vulnerabilities. Ransomware and Remote Code Execution (RCE) are examples where malicious actors exploit vulnerabilities in systems. Additionally, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, while not exploiting vulnerabilities directly, are malicious cyber-attacks that can be highly disruptive to organizations.

To cope with this, companies should implement robust security measures combining proactive preventive measures such as comprehensive application and perimeter protection through firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security audits.

Employee training in cybersecurity best practices and maintaining up-to-date software and systems are also crucial.

Navigate high demand

Sudden spikes in demand can overwhelm systems that are not designed to handle such loads, leading to outages. This often occurs during major events, promotions, or unexpected surges in usage.

For instance, retail websites frequently crash during major annual sale events, when a surge in traffic overwhelms their servers. Similarly, online streaming services have experienced downtime during the premieres of highly anticipated shows, as millions of eager viewers attempt to access the content simultaneously. These incidents underscore the critical importance of preparing for peak demand scenarios, even if they occur infrequently.

To manage high demand, companies should invest in load-balancing and load-scaling technologies. Conducting performance testing and having contingency plans for peak times can help ensure systems remain operational throughout.

Perform back-up and recovery tests 

Failures in the backup process can lead to outages, especially when primary systems fail, and backups do not activate as expected. This can result from improperly configured backups, corrupted data, or insufficient testing.

The impact of backup failures can be particularly devastating as they often come to light during already critical situations. For instance, a healthcare provider might lose access to patient records during a primary system failure, only to find that their backup data is incomplete or corrupted. Such scenarios underscore the importance of not just having backup systems, but ensuring they are fully functional, up-to-date, and capable of meeting the organization's recovery needs.

It’s critical to regularly perform backup and recovery tests to ensure that systems are properly configured. Companies should ensure they have a range of recovery options in place, including snapshots, replication, and backups to provide a range of RTO and RPO options. A comprehensive DR plan with consistent testing is also critical to ensure that large recoveries work as expected.

Mitigate network issues

Network issues encompass problems with internet service providers, routers, or other networking equipment. These can be caused by hardware failures, or configuration errors, or external factors like cable cuts.

The impact of network issues can range from minor inconveniences to severe operational disruptions. Slow internet speeds may hamper productivity, while complete outages can halt business operations entirely. 

To mitigate network issues, organizations should ensure robust network monitoring and management practices. Redundant network paths and automated failover systems can help maintain connectivity during disruptions.

Protect against human error

Human error remains one of the leading causes of tech outages. This can include mistakes made during routine maintenance, misconfigurations, or accidental deletions. In high-pressure environments, even experienced professionals can make errors, especially when dealing with complex systems or tight deadlines.

Comprehensive training programs and strict change management protocols can help reduce human errors. Automated systems for routine tasks and thorough review processes for critical actions can also minimize the risk of mistakes.

Mitigate the causes of software outages

Understanding the diverse causes of tech outages is essential for developing strategies to prevent them, but it’s just the start. An effective mitigation strategy requires an observability solution that provides a complete end-to-end view of all applications and services. 

The unfortunate reality is that software outages are common. However, by understanding the root causes of outages and implementing an observability platform, organizations can enhance the reliability and resilience of their technology infrastructure, ensuring continuity and maintaining trust in an increasingly digital world.

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