How to handle a tech outage

Tech outages don’t just halt emails and websites. They can disrupt bookings, pause payments and leave your business in the lurch.

And these days, the world is almost always run online. From plumbers to pubs, you likely rely on the internet to run your business — or at the very least, to showcase your services and get new customers.

So when everything is connected by a few tech giants — like Amazon Web Services (AWS), CrowdStrike or Shopify — if one bad string of code gets deployed, everything can grind to a halt.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help minimise disruption if the worst happens.

1. Know your critical systems

Start by listing all the digital tools your business relies on — from payments and booking systems to accounting software, email, cloud storage and communication platforms. Then, rank them by importance: business-critical tools, like your payments system, down to non-essential ones, like design apps for Instagram posts.

Knowing what’s business-critical can help you prioritise if something goes down. You might be surprised how long that list is. But you might also be surprised at how fast a domino effect can happen if even one tool fails.

By having everything written down, you can start to form a back up plan, which is next on the list…

2. Have a backup plan

If your booking system crashes, could customers still reach you by phone? If your payment provider is out, can you take bank transfers or send an email payment link as a fallback?

The best time to test a backup plan is before you need it. Best practice would be to run through a mock outage every now and again to make sure you and your team know what to do.

It’s also worth setting up a simple business continuity plan. It doesn’t have to be overly formal, just a clear checklist of what needs to happen if your systems go down. For example:

• Who contacts customers?
• How do you take payments?
• What gets paused and what carries on?

Writing it all down now could mean less confusion or scrambling around when you’re busy sorting everything out during an outage.

3. Communicate quickly and clearly

Whether you’re facing an hour of downtime or a full-blown blackout, keeping customers informed is key. Have a go-to message template ready to post on your website or social channels, and have a mocked-up email to send out to customers.

Keep it short, human and reassuring. Let people know what’s happened, how it affects them and what you’re doing about it. The last thing you want is to scare people or damage your reputation because of another company’s outage.

If the outage will affect appointments your customers have booked, it’s particularly important to prioritise getting messages out to those most impacted first.

4. Keep an offline copy of important data

Outages can lock you out of essential day-to-day systems. If all your files are stored in the cloud, and the cloud goes down, you might be temporarily cut off from everything.

That’s why it’s important to keep up-to-date offline backups of the things you can’t do without — like order histories or customer contact details. A simple spreadsheet on your desktop can go a long way.

But it’s just as important to keep those files secure. Password-protect them and limit access to only those who need it.

If they include any personally identifiable information (PII), take extra care. A leak or hack could lead to serious trouble with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), including fines of up to £17.5 million or 4% of your global annual turnover under UK GDPR rules.

5. Secure your login details

If you do face an outage, it can be easy to panic. This, in turn, means you could forget the basics. But make sure your login details are stored safely and access is restricted to those who really need it.

Consider using a password manager to keep things secure. Tools like LastPass, Dashlane and 1Password let you create strong, unique passwords and store them securely, so you only need to remember one master password to access the rest. And if you're sharing access during an outage, make sure you revoke it when the dust settles.

It’s not just passwords you need to protect — you’ve got to keep an eye out for hackers too. When CrowdStrike experienced a global outage in July 2024, cyber-criminals took advantage of the chaos.

Many businesses were hit with convincing emails that looked like they came from CrowdStrike, aiming to exploit the confusion. The goal was to get businesses to download malware and open the door to their systems. From there, attackers could steal data and demand payment.

It’s a good reminder that keeping your passwords — and your team — secure isn’t just about dodging brute force attacks. Social engineering and phishing scams often start with a single slip. SMEs are a common target, too — and the impact can be devastating. Nearly half of UK cyber attacks hit smaller businesses, with 60% closing within six months.

6. Learn from the wobble

After any outage — even a small one — take a minute to reflect. What worked and what didn’t? What could you put in place to bounce back quicker next time?

It doesn’t need to be formal. A few notes jotted down after the fact can help build on your business continuity plan, making things easier if this happens again.

How cyber insurance can help

Cyber insurance — also known as cyber liability insurance or cybersecurity insurance — is designed to cover businesses which operate online or are exposed to the internet. It can cover many cyber incidents, including being affected by third-party downtime.

You might be reimbursed for lost income if a cyber incident stops you trading — even if the problem sits with a supplier. It could also help cover the cost of recovering data that’s been lost, damaged or held to ransom.

If you’re a cyber insurance policyholder through Superscript, you’ll have access to round-the-clock support to help manage cyber incidents. From identifying the issue and containing the threat, to getting things back up and running. That kind of expert help can be the difference between a quick recovery and a serious setback.

You’ll find the contact details for your incident response team in your policy documents, available in your customer portal. If in doubt, just get in touch — we’re here to help.