Most businesses have experienced a technology issue like this at some point:
A critical system stops responding. Staff cannot access the information they need. Calls start coming through, but nobody is quite sure whether the issue will be resolved in five minutes or five hours.
“The system’s really slow today, sorry”.
Whether it’s a practice management platform, a shared drive, internet connectivity, cloud software, or a phone system, losing access can affect far more than the technology itself.
In this InfoByte, we look at:
It happens more often than people think
In July 2024, a faulty software update from CrowdStrike caused one of the largest IT outages in history, affecting businesses, airports, banks, retailers, and healthcare providers around the world.
Australian airlines, supermarkets, and other organisations experienced disruption throughout the day.
What made the event notable was that it was not a cyber attack.
It was a technology issue that prevented many organisations from accessing systems they relied on every day.
The result was widespread disruption, with cancelled flights, payment issues, delayed services, and businesses unable to access critical systems.
The event highlighted how dependent modern businesses have become on technology, regardless of industry.
You can read more about the CrowdStrike global outage in this ABC News article.
We touch on a few more IT breakdowns at the end of the InfoByte.
What happens when access disappears
When access to a critical system disappears, the impact is often immediate.
- Staff may be unable to access appointments, documents, emails, files, or customer information needed to perform their work
- Reception teams begin taking notes manually, scheduled tasks are delayed, and customers are often left waiting while staff determine what information is still available
For a healthcare clinic, that might mean limited access to appointment information or patient records.
For a professional services firm, it could mean client files, project information, or key business applications becoming temporarily unavailable.
The longer the disruption continues, the more difficult it becomes to maintain normal operations.
When people think about system outages, they often focus on the technology itself.
The bigger challenge is usually operational.
- Can staff continue serving customers?
- Can appointments continue?
- Can teams communicate effectively?
- Can work continue if a critical application becomes unavailable?
These questions are often difficult to answer in the middle of an outage if they have never been considered beforehand.
Reducing the impact
No organisation can eliminate every technology issue, but businesses can reduce the impact when problems occur.
This might include:
- Maintaining reliable backups
- Having documented recovery procedures
- Using monitored and managed infrastructure
- Reviewing communication systems
- Understanding who to contact when something goes wrong
These measures do not prevent every disruption, but they can significantly reduce downtime and confusion when issues arise.
For many medium-sized businesses, resilience comes down to a combination of:
- Reliable backups and recovery processes
- Well-maintained infrastructure and systems
- Clear communication when issues occur
- Knowing who is responsible for resolving problems
Business continuity is the goal
Most businesses do not think about system access until something stops working.
The organisations that recover fastest are often the ones that have already considered what happens if a critical system becomes unavailable and have plans in place to respond.
At Quo Group, business continuity sits at the centre of what we do. Through managed cloud services, infrastructure solutions, backup and recovery planning, and other business continuity services, we help organisations build environments that are designed to keep operating when unexpected issues occur.
If your business relies on technology to deliver services, support customers, or manage day-to-day operations, it may be worth reviewing how prepared your systems are for an unexpected disruption.
Other major IT breakdowns you might be interested in:
Optus Nationwide Outage (November 2023)
More than 10 million Australians and around 400,000 businesses lost access to mobile, internet, and phone services for much of the day. Hospitals, public transport, payment systems, and businesses across the country were affected.
The outage was caused by a network routing issue that triggered protective shutdown mechanisms within the Optus network. Importantly, it was not the result of a cyber attack.
Read more in this ABC News article here.
Commonwealth Bank App and NetBank Outage (June 2023)
Thousands of customers were temporarily unable to access online banking services, check balances, make payments, or transfer funds. For many businesses and consumers, access to banking services was disrupted during the outage.
The issue was caused by an internal technical fault affecting digital banking services rather than any external security incident.
Read more: 7NEWS Australia
