• Mobilize Cloud
  • July 19, 2024
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In the digital age, maintaining open lines of communication during critical outages is essential for businesses. The recent CrowdStrike outage, which disrupted services for a significant number of users, underscores the importance of using your website effectively to update both customers and employees.

Realtime CrowdStrike Outage Updates:

Understanding the Impact of the CrowdStrike Outage

CrowdStrike, a leader in cybersecurity, experienced a major outage today that left many of its services inaccessible. This outage not only affected its customers but also raised concerns among its employees who rely on these services for their day-to-day operations. The incident highlights the necessity of having robust communication strategies in place to manage such crises.

Best Practices for Updating Customers and Employees

  1. Dedicated Outage Page:
    • Why? During an outage, customers and employees seek immediate information. A dedicated page helps centralize all relevant updates.
    • What to Include? Clearly state the nature of the outage, affected services, and an estimated time for resolution. Regular updates and a timestamp for each update can enhance transparency.
  2. Banner Alerts:
    • Why? Banner alerts on your homepage ensure that visitors are instantly aware of the issue without searching for information.
    • What to Include? A brief description of the outage with a link to the dedicated outage page for more details.
  3. Real-Time Updates:
    • Why? Outages are dynamic situations. Providing real-time updates helps manage expectations and reduce frustration.
    • What to Include? Continuous progress reports, even if there is no significant change, show that the situation is being actively managed.
  4. Clear Communication Channels:
    • Why? Clear guidance on how customers and employees can seek support is crucial.
    • What to Include? Contact details for customer support, links to social media channels, and FAQs related to the outage.
  5. Empathy and Apologies:
    • Why? Acknowledging the inconvenience caused by the outage fosters trust and goodwill.
    • What to Include? A sincere apology, reassurance of resolving the issue, and appreciation for the patience and understanding of customers and employees.

Implementing These Strategies: A Practical Approach

  • Pre-outage Preparation:
    • Develop an outage communication plan.
    • Design a template for your dedicated outage page and banner alerts.
    • Train your support team on handling increased queries during outages.
  • During the Outage:
    • Activate the dedicated outage page and banner alerts.
    • Post initial information about the outage promptly.
    • Ensure regular updates, even if the update is to confirm ongoing efforts.
  • Post-outage Review:
    • Analyze the effectiveness of your communication.
    • Collect feedback from customers and employees.
    • Adjust your communication plan based on the insights gained.

Lessons from CrowdStrike

The CrowdStrike outage today demonstrated the value of transparent and timely communication. CrowdStrike’s initial response included a detailed explanation of the issue and regular updates, helping to manage customer expectations and reduce uncertainty.

Conclusion

Effectively using your website to update customers and employees during critical outages is a vital aspect of crisis management. By adopting best practices such as dedicated outage pages, real-time updates, and clear communication channels, you can minimize the impact of outages and maintain trust. The CrowdStrike outage serves as a reminder of the importance of being prepared and proactive in your communication strategies.

#Outage #CrowdStrike #WebDevelopment #CyberAttack


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