Lights Out For Business: Resiliency Amid Internet Outages

Businesses are increasingly reliant on the Internet. CRM platforms, virtual meeting apps, online sales, POS systems, and even office printers require the Internet so you can do everything you need to deliver high-quality products and services to your customers. However, Catchpoint's 2024 Internet Resilience Report states that 43% of businesses estimated they lost "more than $1 million due to Internet outages or degradations in the month prior to the survey."

It's tempting to blame the Internet provider when the Internet goes out. Unfortunately, outages happen. Pointing fingers at vendors won't change that. Instead, the solution must come from within.

What's Going On With Internet Connectivity

In July, a global Internet outage forced millions of computers offline, including at major airlines, banks and hospitals. The root cause of the disruption was a single software update deployed by cyber security firm CrowdStrike.

Cyber security reporter Brian Krebs famously described the Internet as "held together with spit and baling wire." It's easy to forget that the Internet, like other tech, is evolving and complex. It connects countless systems and devices globally, creating a web of dependencies. A disruption in one part of the network can ripple through and affect other systems, as seen with the CrowdStrike update. Internet outages can have serious financial and security consequences, so preparing for an outage is crucial.

Resilience Comes From Within

After an outage, you may be tempted to fire your service provider. However, Catchpoint CEO and co-founder Mehdi Daoudi explained in an interview with Tech Brew that it's not a good solution (unless they prove unreliable). Daoudi said that after an outage, it's better to work with your vendors to figure out what went wrong and how to be better prepared. Some companies have hired chief resilience officers, but the title doesn't matter as much as having a leader in your company who spends time thinking about resiliency.

"It's important that companies embrace resiliency and reliability. How? By encouraging the learning from failures, by not firing," Daoudi told Tech Brew. "What did we learn from this outage? What can we do to strengthen our postures going forward?"

The Internet is complex, and outages happen. To safeguard against the inevitable, businesses must cultivate resilience internally and proactively collaborate with Internet vendors to avoid damaging consequences