The new rules of business continuity

Suhaib Zaheer at Cloudways explores what businesses can learn from customer headaches

 

Smooth seas never made a skilled sailor, as the adage goes. If that’s true, 2024 has produced a generation of business admirals. 

 

The past twelve months have taught us that even the mightiest ships can falter when a digital storm hits. From the CrowdStrike update that grounded thousands of flights worldwide to website crashes during peak sales events, this year has stress-tested every aspect of business infrastructure. 

 

It’s these moments of turbulence that have truly tested leadership. When ill-fated updates brought airports to a standstill or made GP surgeries unable to access patient records, organisations had to quickly pivot to manual systems. Many demonstrated adaptability, implementing contingency plans to keep moving forward despite the technological headwinds. 

 

These challenges created a new breed of business leader – one who understands through direct experience that business continuity requires more than robust systems alone. Successful navigation of these events is achieved through clear communication channels and ready alternatives that can kick in when digital infrastructure falters. 

 

The moment of truth 

Repeatedly, we’ve seen how interconnected modern business systems have become. When infrastructure failed, contingency plans were revealed to be nothing more than tick box exercises, seemingly limited to paper.  

 

The true test of organisational resilience lies not in preventing every failure, but in fostering an environment where adaptability becomes second nature. When systems fail, the difference between crisis and mere inconvenience often comes down to how well teams understand their core mission beyond the digital tools that usually enable it. 

 

Take the Oasis ticket sales debacle, which demonstrated how quickly customer frustration can escalate when digital infrastructure buckles under pressure. Multi-step procedures that work smoothly under normal conditions became impassable bottlenecks during peak demand. Bristol Airport’s EasyJet system glitch similarly showed how rapidly operational issues can cascade into customer service crises without proper communication protocols. 

 

Yet some organisations turned potential disasters into demonstrations of competence. When Boots’ website struggled during Black Friday, their transparent communication about queue systems and estimated wait times helped to maintain customer patience. These contrasting experiences highlighted a crucial lesson: in moments of crisis, clear communication often matters more than quick technical fixes. 

 

Building tomorrow’s business resilience 

The key takeaway from 2024’s challenges isn’t simply about having more robust technology – though that remains essential. It’s about understanding how different elements of business operations interconnect, from cloud infrastructure to customer touchpoints. Peak trading periods require not just scaled-up server capacity and reliable hosting solutions, but streamlined customer journeys that can handle increased load without introducing additional friction. 

 

Perhaps the most valuable lesson from the year is that the organisations that weathered digital storms most effectively, shared common characteristics. These included well-trained staff capable of operating under manual conditions, clear communication protocols that maintained customer trust, and leadership that prioritised transparency over perfect solutions. 

 

Financial institutions particularly demonstrated the importance of this holistic approach. When electronic payment systems faltered during crucial trading periods, those with well-maintained offline processing capabilities maintained service continuity. The London Stock Exchange’s response to technical issues affecting its Regulatory News Service showed how alternative communication channels could maintain market stability during digital disruptions. 

 

This shift represents a rethink in how we approach business continuity. Rather than treating digital and manual processes as separate entities, forward-thinking organisations are developing integrated approaches that leverage both technological advancement and human ingenuity. This hybrid model acknowledges that while digital transformation drives efficiency, the human capacity for adaptation remains our most reliable failsafe. 

 

Beyond system resilience, 2024 highlighted the importance of stress-testing across different time zones. When the CrowdStrike incident cascaded through global markets, organisations discovered that their disaster recovery plans often failed to account for international dependencies. Those with always-on support capabilities and cross-regional backup systems proved more resilient than those relying on localised solutions. 

 

As we move into a new year, successful organisations will focus on building what might be called ’graceful degradation’ into their systems. This means designing processes that maintain basic functionality even when sophisticated features fail, and ensuring staff are trained to deliver service continuity through alternative channels. Organisations that embrace this understanding are moving beyond traditional disaster recovery planning to create cultures where adaptability and clear communication are valued as highly as technical expertise. 

 

This approach requires rethinking how we measure system reliability. Instead of focusing solely on uptime percentages, organisations must consider their ability to maintain essential services during disruptions. This might mean accepting lower efficiency in exchange for greater resilience, or investing in hybrid systems that combine digital convenience with robust manual backups. 

 

The turbulent waters of 2024 have forged more resilient businesses, but the journey isn’t over. Success in our interconnected world demands not just robust technology, but the wisdom to know when to fall back on simpler, proven solutions. After all, business maturity isn’t necessarily the absence of failure, but the grace with which we handle it.  

 

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 Suhaib Zaheer is Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cloudways 

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and Olivier Le Moal