The Only Thing Worse Than a System Outage: An Avoidable System Outage

Outages are the bane of any organization. They disrupt operations, affect productivity, and can lead to significant financial, reputational, and legal losses. But there's one thing worse than experiencing a system outage: an avoidable system outage.  

Unfortunately, many outages caused by third-party bugs fall into this category. These bugs are often known and documented by their respective supplier, yet they slip through the cracks due to the complexity of tracking multiple bugs across disparate supplier reporting systems, and the ever-growing day-to-day demands facing modern IT operations staff.  

Externally, regulators, the courts, and the markets punish enterprises for unplanned outages. Even the appearance of negligence can trigger a backlash – and knowing that the root cause of an outage was in the public domain and should have been anticipated is never a good look for an enterprise already suffering the consequences of the outage itself. 

In today’s cloud economy, third-party systems and software provide essential functionality and streamline operations. With heightened dependence comes new vulnerabilities and attendant risk. In fact, many system outages have been traced back to bugs in third-party software—bugs that were known but not appropriately mitigated.  

Known bugs often come with patches or workarounds that can prevent system failures. This leads to a critical question: why are these known bugs still causing avoidable outages? 

The root of the problem lies in the cumbersome and impractical task of tracking bugs across multiple vendor portals. Each vendor has its own system for reporting bugs and providing updates. This decentralized approach requires IT teams to constantly monitor various sources for information on potential issues. Given the fast-paced and hectic nature of today’s business environment, dedicating the necessary time and resources to this task is often impractical. 

Imagine trying to juggle updates from dozens of different vendors, each with their own reporting format and update schedules. It's no wonder that critical patches and bug fixes slip through the cracks, leading to avoidable disruptions that could have been prevented with better tracking and management.  

Regulators and legislators recognize the critical need to prevent all outages and disruptions in vital systems, not just those caused by security breaches. This broader perspective means that organizations must be vigilant in mitigating all potential causes of system outages, including those resulting from non-security bugs. Failure to do so not only leads to operational disruptions but can amplify liability. 

For example, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) in the European Union mandates that organizations manage and mitigate IT risks comprehensively. DORA specifically requires clear identification of risks, detailed documentation of those identified risks, and continuous evaluation to ensure residual risks do not evolve into unacceptable risks (DORA, Preamble 1-8). Similarly, the UK's Operational Resilience Framework and the US Federal Reserve’s guidelines stress the importance of a proactive and ongoing approach to risk management, emphasizing the need to manage all types of operational risks, not just those related to security breaches. 

When organizations fail to effectively mitigate outages caused by non-security bugs, they face compounded consequences. Not only do they suffer from the immediate impact of the outages, but they also risk regulatory scrutiny and legal penalties. Courts and regulators are likely to find additional fault and liability in cases where it is evident that the incidents could have been avoided through proper tracking and management of known issues. 

This is where BugZero steps in. BugZero is designed to fill the gap in the risk management process by providing a centralized, streamlined solution for monitoring and managing known bugs from third-party vendors. By consolidating information from multiple sources into a single, easily accessible platform, BugZero makes it feasible for IT teams to stay on top of potential vulnerabilities without the need for constant, manual tracking. 

BugZero continuously scans vendor portals and other relevant sources for updates on known bugs. It then compiles this information, prioritizes it based on potential impact, and, leveraging seamless integration with ServiceNow, alerts your team to take necessary actions.  Thus, ensuring that the appropriate mitigation workflows are initiated, documented, and reported.  

Single Source of Truth 

• Over 2 million bugs, growing by 100+ bugs daily. 

• Integrates data from 15+ sources, including AWS, Cisco, Microsoft, and VMware. 

Purpose-Built for Risk Management 

• Extended data model with enriched metadata. 

• Natural language summarization, community sentiment analysis, and generation of missing attributes. 

• Secure, scalable architecture with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance. 

ITSM by Design 

• ServiceNow integration provides a single pane of glass. 

• Vendor prioritization mapped to ServiceNow risk index. 

• Continuous CMDB scanning. 

• Organization-specific severity ranking and filtering. 

• Fully integrated case management and reporting. 

• Onboarding measured in hours. 

Avoidable system disruptions are a significant threat to any organization. BugZero offers a practical solution by bridging the gap in the risk management process, ensuring that your organization can proactively address known issues and maintain operational resilience. 

With regulators and legislators emphasizing the importance of comprehensive outage prevention, the failure to mitigate non-security bugs may pose a significant liability risk. BugZero ensures that your organization is not only protected from potential disruptions but also aligned with regulatory obligations. 

Learn more about how BugZero can safeguard your systems at https://www.findbugzero.com/contact.