Global Software Outages Don’t Have to Happen. Here’s a Better Way.

Organizations are increasingly navigating complex vendor ecosystems. For example, a recent Gartner report indicates that nearly 80% of enterprises operate in multi-cloud environments, highlighting the growing intricacy of managing diverse technologies and vendors. 

This complexity comes with its own set of challenges and risks. Because businesses rely on a vast network of third-party services, any disruption from a vendor can have far-reaching effects on operations. 

That’s precisely what happened last week with CrowdStrike. Their problematic code push had cascading effects on the systems of every single one of their customers, disrupting services across multiple global sectors. The impact of the outage demonstrated how important their software is — and, unfortunately, how costly even a minor mistake can be. 

As the founder of three companies that help developers deliver better, safer software, I know this incident could have been avoided. CrowdStrike just published its initial Post Incident Review (PIR), an investigation into what happened and why. The high-level summary is simple. The team didn't follow modern DevOps practices, letting a severe error go undetected.

The reality is that bugs happen. Developers are human. No one writes flawless code, even with fully built-out software testing practices. It’s important to remember that testing takes place in what is essentially a controlled laboratory environment. In the real world, unexpected edge cases can present themselves and wreak havoc on software systems. 

But while bugs are inevitable, the disruptions they can cause don't have to be. At Harness, we believe DevOps platforms should provide a safety net for both software teams and end users.  Our mission is to prevent these disruptions to your business and ensure a smooth, secure, and reliable software delivery process. 

If you’re not already using these modern practices, it’s time to get started! ‍

‍Canary Deployments and Rollouts

Canary rollouts are a deployment strategy that involves releasing changes to a small subset of users before a full-scale deployment. This approach allows businesses to identify and address potential issues early, reducing the risk of widespread disruptions. By implementing canary rollouts, companies can enhance their ability to manage changes and maintain operational stability.‍

Progressive Delivery with Feature Flags‍

Feature flags enable controlled releases of new features by toggling them on or off for specific users or environments. This practice gives businesses granular control over feature deployments, allowing them to test new functionalities in real-world scenarios and quickly roll back changes if needed.‍

Proactive Resilience and Reliability Testing

Chaos testing involves deliberately introducing disruptions to test a system's resilience and identify weaknesses. This practice is crucial for businesses to ensure their systems can handle unexpected failures and maintain service continuity. Chaos testing helps proactively address potential issues, enhancing overall system reliability.

‍Automated Software Delivery Pipelines

Automated pipelines are essential for effectively implementing modern deployment practices. By automating your pipelines, you ensure that processes are consistently applied and reduce the likelihood of human error. This approach supports best practices such as canary deployments and feature flags while also integrating proactive resilience and chaos testing. It helps streamline your release processes, maintain high security and governance standards, and enable swift responses to potential issues, ultimately enhancing your system's stability and reliability. All of this is done without slowing down the velocity and productivity of software development teams.

Citi’s Success with Automated Pipelines

One of our customers, Citi, uses Harness Continuous Delivery (CD) to standardize and automate its pipelines. Facing inefficiencies from manual and inconsistent deployment processes, Citi streamlined its software delivery practices, added automation, and improved control over its deployments.

The results speak for themselves. Citi significantly increased its deployment speed and performance while achieving higher operational stability and developer satisfaction. The impact of modern software delivery practices is clear. 

‍It’s Time to Look Ahead and Take Action

Resilience is crucial for maintaining operational stability in today’s complex software ecosystems. Modern software practices, like the ones I just described, can significantly enhance your ability to manage dependencies and mitigate risks. 

It’s also a good time to review vendor relationships and consider integrating solutions like Harness to improve resilience and manage multi-cloud environments effectively. By being proactive in overseeing vendor dependencies, you can protect your operations from possible interruptions and guarantee enduring success.

Ready to learn more? Grab time with one of our experts.