The recent global IT outage is a stark reminder that even the most advanced organizations can have bad days. Major disruptions can have significant downstream impacts that can lead to disappointed customers, lost revenue, deferred processes and even legal action if the downtime is considerable. With the rapid pace of technological change and the continued digital transformation intensified by AI, disruptions are no longer “unexpected.” They are part of the normal course of business. What separates a swift recovery from prolonged chaos is the level of preparedness in place before the crisis hits.

As we observe our fifth Annual Global Preparedness Month at PagerDuty, we understand that a well-prepared workforce can significantly shorten the recovery curve, enabling organizations to return to normal operations much quicker than their competitors. A crisis can either be an opportunity to build trust and instill confidence or a catastrophe.

The best response is being ready to respond in the first place

Vigilance is first and foremost about fostering a culture of constant awareness and anticipation. Regular drills and tabletop exercises are fundamental in keeping teams sharp and responsive, ensuring that when a crisis arises, there’s no hesitation – teams know exactly what to do because they’ve done it before, under simulated pressure.

But vigilance extends beyond internal readiness. It requires organizations to maintain a 360-degree view of the threat landscape. Internally, this means regularly monitoring systems, updating security protocols, and ensuring that plans and playbooks are up to par. Externally, vigilance involves scanning for emerging threats, such as new cybersecurity risks, technological advancements that could disrupt existing processes and business models, or shifts in regulatory environments that may require rapid adaptation.

By regularly assessing the effectiveness of your crisis response including the tools and platforms you trust to quickly get you out of a crisis, organizations can stay ahead of potential threats and ensure operational continuity.

Maintaining Resilience in a Hybrid Work Environment

As an organization that operates across diverse geographies and time zones, PagerDuty recognizes the unique challenges that come with maintaining seamless operations in a distributed workforce. Leveraging the PagerDuty Operations Cloud, our teams are equipped with the response tools and mechanisms they need to collaborate and respond from anywhere in the world, without sacrificing speed or efficiency. 

We’ve prioritized the security, accessibility, and reliability of our systems, ensuring that key stakeholders, whether in the office or remote, can quickly and safely become situationally aware and contribute. PagerDuty Advance fundamentally changes the way newly added responders get caught up with a simple prompt and aids in faster, more efficient incident resolution.

We’ve also invested heavily in cultivating personal resilience among our employees. Ongoing training sessions and building an on-call culture are key to helping our teams manage the stress and unpredictability that can accompany crisis situations. By fostering a supportive environment, we ensure that our employees are not just technically prepared, but mentally resilient as well. We’re not just reacting to crises, but actively building a more resilient organization to service our customers.

Continuous Improvement: The Path to Long-Term Resilience
Awareness and preparedness levels increase as organizations learn from past incidents and refine their crisis strategies. At PagerDuty, continuous improvement isn’t just a best practice – it’s a core value that drives our entire approach to operational excellence and resilience. This means regularly evaluating our crisis response protocols through the lens of opportunities to respond faster, see patterns and anticipate future incidents.

We encourage a culture of feedback and learning across all levels of our organization. This feedback loop not only helps us refine our crisis management strategies but also strengthens the resilience of our teams by making them active participants in the process, which in turn, informs our product updates and operational guides that help other organizations build resilience.

Our commitment to staying best in class means that we encourage our teams to stay vigilant about emerging trends and threats in the industry to anticipate challenges before they arise and adapt our strategies accordingly. This proactive stance ensures that our resilience is not static but dynamic, evolving in response to new information and changing circumstances.

We are always striving to be better prepared, more vigilant, and more resilient. It’s this dedication to growth and adaptation that allows us to provide the best possible service to our customers, ensuring that the Operations Cloud is always ready to meet their needs, no matter what challenges may come their way.

At PagerDuty, we’re empowering teams to build the future and using our own platform to respond to the increasingly complex events that may threaten our people and operations. If you want to learn more about how the PagerDuty Operations Cloud can help modernize your business operations and crisis response, read our Crisis Response Management Ops Guide and sign up for a free trial.