Execs expect outages

PagerDuty surveyed 1,000 IT and business executives who were director level and above, from the U.S., U.K., Australia and Japan. The study’s findings illustrate how critical it is for companies to implement efficient processes and strategies for preventing major incidents and mitigating damages, while maintaining customer trust.

The PagerDuty study found that the 2024 July global IT outage was a learning experience for organizations.

In today’s digitally connected world, IT outages can be caused by everything from cyberattacks to human error.

86% of executives surveyed now realize that they have been prioritizing security at the expense of readiness for service disruptions, causing changes within the company . The reality is that a focus on preventing service disruptions, which can often be security-related, is imperative for organizations today. Preparedness in terms of people, process and culture is key to ensuring disruptions are minimized to limit revenue and reputational harm.

83% of business and IT executives admitted that the July global IT outage caught them off guard , exposing gaps in their preparedness for service disruptions. 89% of executives in the U.K., 84% in the U.S,, 80% in Japan and 77% in Australia admit to being surprised by the disruptions.

Nearly half of IT executives (47%) believe that insufficient incident management planning will exacerbate the impact of major IT outages on their organizations , a concern shared by 41% of business executives, if approaches to service disruption are not prioritized.

“The PagerDuty study shows that executives around the globe are shifting their leadership priorities with major incidents in mind, with 100% of those surveyed reporting a heightened focus on preparing for future service disruptions at their companies,” said Eric Johnson, chief information officer at PagerDuty. “CEOs and their boards are now focused on this issue, and with the accelerated pace of AI and other advanced technologies being deployed, companies cannot afford to delay critical technology infrastructure updates.”

Additionally, 55% of executives surveyed have observed a mindset shift towards continually evaluating and improving preparedness instead of a one-time move into investments in new systems or protocols that are now complete (45%).

Other key findings from the survey data include:

A strong majority of executives surveyed in the U.K. (91%), U.S. (89%), Australia (88%) and Japan (78%) believe that it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” these service disruptions happen.

While some organizations were prepared for the digital disruption, others were not. Of those that were not fully prepared, 37% of executives said the July global IT outage resulted in lost revenue or an inability to process sales transactions and delayed response times by 39% to customer or internal requests.

Organizations that experienced multiple service outages due to the July global IT disruption suffered communication breakdowns between departments (38%), delays in workflow and projects put on hold (35%). Overall, 39% of executives saw an impact on decision-making.

Nearly half in the U.S. (48%), Australia (48%), and the U.K. (47%), along with a majority in Japan (53%) believe that limited access to real-time data tools will further hinder their organizations during an outage, if approaches to service disruption are not prioritized.

For many who experienced disruptions during service incidents, the July global IT outage meant a return to the old ways of doing things, as 44% saw increased reliance on manual processes or workarounds following the incident, showing just how much organizations rely on digital tools.