It’s 10:30 PM, and the service tickets are rolling in again.
First, it was the Microsoft Azure outage a few weeks ago, and tonight, it’s Cloudflare.
As I sit here managing the chaos, I can’t help but ask: Is this our new norm?
It really makes you question if our current Business Continuity Plans are strong enough to foresee and weather this storm of frequent disruptions from the big players.
It raises some big questions for us in the industry. Do we need to double down on our internal solutions? And where does the accountability lie with these tech giants?
Meanwhile, my dog is sitting next to me, giving me that look that says, “Isn’t it time for my walk yet?” His life certainly seems a lot simpler than IT support right now! But despite the late hours and the stress, I have to admit—I love this work. I love the team I’m in the trenches with, and deep down, I love a good challenge. Even when the workload piles up and everyone else is groaning, I’m reminded of why I do this.
While headlines shout about ‘outages,’ they rarely talk about the human effort behind the scenes. It’s us, the dedicated IT and ops teams, burning the midnight oil, troubleshooting, communicating, and working tirelessly to get things back on track. There’s a quiet camaraderie that forms during these stressful times, a shared determination to keep the digital lights on for everyone else. It’s a tough gig, but it also highlights the incredible resilience and problem-solving skills of people in our field
And let’s be honest, as frustrating as they are, every major outage becomes an impromptu masterclass in crisis management. We learn so much in those intense hours – about system weaknesses we didn’t know we had, about communication protocols that need tweaking, and about the sheer adaptability of our teams. It’s a brutal way to learn, sure, but the lessons are invaluable for building more robust, future-proof strategies.
Ultimately, while these outages feel all-consuming in the moment, it’s vital to step back and maintain perspective. My dog, patiently waiting for his walk, is a perfect reminder that there’s a whole world out there beyond the server logs and service tickets. We pour our heart and soul into keeping things running, but switching off and recharging is just as crucial. After all, you can’t fix anything if you’re completely burned out, right? Maybe a long walk with the dog is the best business continuity plan of all.
These aren’t just technical glitches; they’re moments that test our limits, our patience, and our problem-solving skills. But they also highlight the incredible spirit of adaptability and resilience within our teams and across the wider tech community. Every time a major platform stumbles, there are countless dedicated individuals working tirelessly to restore services, communicate updates, and keep the digital world turning. It’s a reminder that even in the face of widespread disruption, human ingenuity and collaboration are our strongest assets.
So, as we navigate this increasingly complex landscape of digital dependency, perhaps the real question isn’t just if the next outage will happen, but how we continue to adapt, learn, and support each other through them. What are your thoughts? Have these recent events changed how you approach your own business continuity planning, or even just how you view our reliance on big tech? I’d love to hear your perspectives on whether this truly feels like our ‘new normal,’ and how you’re gearing up for what comes next.
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