Cloud-based software platforms are the backbone of many businesses, providing essential services that drive operations, productivity and growth. However, the reliance of cloud infrastructure also introduces vulnerabilities, particularly in the form of service outages, software bugs and cyberattacks.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the significant impact these issues can have on cloud-based platforms and how businesses can mitigate these risks.

We’ve all read the headlines about IT outages and maybe even experienced them in our own organisations or as a customer. A recent survey of 200 US & European companies suggested that more than £20.7 Billion is lost to IT outages per year. That’s approximately £120,000 per company – a substantial amount whatever the size of your business!

Half of those surveyed stated that IT outages are damaging to their business’s reputation with 18% suggesting the impact was ‘very damaging’. The average downtime was 14 hours a year – that may not sound much over the course of a year, but experience tells us those are likely to be some of the most nerve-wracking 14 hours of your year as a business leader or owner!

The Consequences of Service Outages

Service outages are stressful. They’re frustrating at best, but can be a whole lot more damaging in terms of both their internal and external effects. And what’s more they can affect anyone. Just look at these examples of major service outages which hit global giants such as IBM, Slack & Google in 2022.

Regardless of the nature and duration of the service outages, the consequences are clear:

1. Operational Disruption
   • Business Continuity: Service outages can halt business operations, leading to missed deadlines, unfulfilled customer orders and a slowdown in productivity.
   • Employee Productivity: Downtime affects employees’ ability to perform their tasks, causing a ripple effect throughout the organisation.
2. Financial Losses
   • Revenue Impact: For e-commerce platforms and businesses that rely on real-time transactions, every minute of downtime translates to revenue loss which could become substantial.
   • Cost of Recovery: Addressing outages often requires immediate attention and resources, incurring additional costs for troubleshooting and restoring services.
3. Reputation Damage
   • Customer Trust: Frequent or prolonged outages can erode customer trust, confidence and loyalty, leading to potential loss of business.
   • Brand Image: In today’s competitive market, a company’s reputation for reliability is crucial. Service outages can harm your brand image your customers’ perception of your company and products.

The Ramifications of Software Bugs

Consider the CrowdStrike outage of 19^th July 2024. It caused worldwide chaos for companies and individuals on the Microsoft Windows v7.11 platform and above affecting 8.5 million devices. Flights were cancelled, hospital appointment systems failed and even 24 hr news channels were forced off air. A PR nightmare that is estimated to have cost £4.2 Billion in direct financial losses to Fortune 500 companies alone*.

*Source www.thetimes.com – subscription required to access all articles

But whatever the cause, the ramifications can be grave:

1. User Experience
   • Functionality Issues: Software bugs can lead to malfunctions, crashes, and errors, degrading the user experience and making it difficult for customers to use the platform effectively.
   • Frustration: Persistent bugs frustrate users, leading to decreased satisfaction and potential churn.
2. Data Integrity
   • Corrupted Data: Bugs can result in data corruption or loss, jeopardising the integrity and reliability of critical business information.
   • Misinformation: Errors in software can cause incorrect data processing, leading to misguided business decisions based on faulty information.
3. Security Vulnerabilities
   • Exploitable Flaws: Bugs often introduce security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors to gain unauthorised access or disrupt services.
   • Compliance Issues: Failing to address bugs promptly can result in non-compliance with industry regulations and standards, potentially leading to fines and legal consequences.

The Impact of Cyberattacks

Cyberattacks often make headlines and really can be your worst nightmare. Early in 2023, Royal Mail were subject to a ransomware attack at a Northern Ireland distribution centre where printers actually started printing the ransomware gang’s demands.

Frightening stuff for sure and the impacts of a cyberattack can be far reaching:

• Data Breaches
  • Sensitive Information: Cyberattacks can lead to the theft of sensitive data, including personal customer information, intellectual property, and financial records.
  • Legal Consequences: Data breaches often result in legal ramifications, including fines, lawsuits, and regulatory penalties.
• Service Disruption
  • DDoS Attacks: Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks overwhelm cloud servers, causing significant downtime and preventing legitimate users from accessing services.
  • Malware and Ransomware: These attacks can cripple operations by locking down systems or corrupting data, demanding ransom payments to restore functionality.
• Trust and Reputation
  • Customer Confidence: Cyberattacks erode customer confidence in the security and reliability of a business, potentially leading to a loss of clientele.
  • Market Position: Repeated security incidents can harm a company’s market position, giving competitors an advantage.

Mitigating Risks and Enhancing Resilience

So, given that there are many advantages of using cloud-based software platforms and they continue to form an integral part of most companies’ tech strategies, how should you mitigate against the risks of any kind of service interruption to your platforms, minimising the impact on your business and customers?

Here are some pointers that will help:

1. Robust Security Measures
   • Encryption and Authentication: Implement strong encryption protocols and multi-factor authentication to protect data and access.
   • Regular Security Audits: Conduct frequent security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and mitigate potential threats.
2. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
   • Redundancy: Ensure data redundancy and backup systems are in place to quickly restore operations during outages or after a cyberattack.
   • Incident Response Plan: Develop and regularly update an incident response plan to effectively manage and recover from disruptions.
3. Proactive Monitoring and Maintenance
   • Automated Monitoring: Use automated monitoring tools to detect and address performance issues, bugs, and security threats in real-time.
   • Regular Updates: Keep software and systems updated with the latest patches and security improvements to minimize vulnerabilities.
4. User Education and Awareness
   • Training Programs: Educate employees and users about cybersecurity best practices, phishing attacks, and the importance of strong passwords.
   • Awareness Campaigns: Regularly conduct awareness campaigns to keep security at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

And that’s where we come in...

We understand that for many SMEs, a fully comprehensive tech strategy including disaster mitigation, super robust security and belts and braces maintenance can be really daunting.

At Go Tripod, we’ve been partnering with our clients for 15 years ensuring they have the best plans in place and the finest cloud-based systems to maximise uptime and mitigate downtime risks to a minimum. We know what we’re up to and have the highest quality development techniques, testing protocols and QA systems and processes in place.

We can work with your IT team or we can fully integrate into your business on a part-time/short term basis with our ‘CTO as a Service’ offering if you’re not in the position to hire a fully blown CTO to build and execute your tech strategy.

We appreciate that service outages, software bugs, and cyberattacks pose significant challenges to the robustness and reliability of cloud-based software platforms and we know how to minimise those risks with you on an on-going basis.

We’ll help you implement robust security measures, proactive monitoring and comprehensive disaster recovery plans, to reduce risk and enhance your organisation’s resilience against disruptions.

Ultimately, a proactive and strategic approach to managing these threats helps businesses maintain the reliability and trustworthiness of cloud-based applications, ensuring they continue to deliver value in an increasingly digital world.

And we have bags of experience in helping people do just that!

To learn more about how Go Tripod could work with your company to provide secure, robust cloud-based applications, simply email [email protected], call us on 0845 475 2487 or complete the form below.