Future-Proofing
Lessons from the AWS Blackout: Practical Steps for Small to Mid-Size Businesses
Lessons from the AWS Blackout: Practical Steps for Small to Mid-Size Businesses by Todd Moss
When technology falters, the ripple is immediate. Most of us don’t think about the plumbing until a pipe bursts, or the power grid until the lights go out. IT should work the same way, quiet in the background, invisible until it isn’t.
That’s why, when AWS experienced its recent blackout, it left so many businesses scrambling to answer a question they’d never hoped to face: What happens when our cloud stops working? If you felt that sting, or worried you might be next, you’re not alone.
We understand the challenge, especially if you’re running a nonprofit trying to secure grants with looming deadlines, a startup scaling at pace, or a business owner who just wants technology to behave itself.
These moments are unsettling, and they highlight just how much we all depend on systems we only partly control. But here’s the thing: disruptions like this also uncover valuable opportunities to re-examine, simplify, and future-proof your IT approach, no matter your size.
What the AWS Blackout Really Taught Us
It would be easy to blame Amazon, or shake our fist at the cloud in general. But focusing on the “why” behind the outage misses the point. These events drive home a simpler truth: how we prepare for downtime, and what we choose to trust in our digital infrastructure, matters more than where our servers live.
More and more, small to mid-size businesses (SMBs) and nonprofits are moving toward the cloud or using managed IT services like those in San Francisco. Cloud services are fantastic for flexibility and scale, but no provider is invulnerable.
The Core Insight: When Systems Get Complex, Risk Doesn’t Disappear, It Moves
Think of your IT stack like an intricate machine. The more you outsource or automate, the more critical it is to watch the connections, not just the pieces. When one big link, say, “AWS East-2”, fails, hundreds of small parts screech to a halt.
But that isn’t a reason for panic; it’s a call for informed, proactive strategy. Here’s what became clear after the blackout:
Single Points of Failure Loom Larger Than Ever. If all your eggs are in one cloud basket, it’s not a matter of “if,” but “when” a disruption ripples through your entire business.
Resilience Isn’t Just for Enterprises. Multi-layered backup and recovery isn’t an enterprise luxury. For nonprofits and startups, simple, cost-effective measures can make all the difference.
Done right, you can gain more agency, not less, by understanding these dependencies and making smarter choices.
Practical Steps for Resilience, Without the Overwhelm
Let’s get specific. Future-proofing IT doesn’t mean buying every new product or hiring an army of specialists. For most SMBs and nonprofits, a handful of targeted strategies can dramatically reduce risk and add clarity.
1. Identify Your Most Critical Processes
Not every system needs the same level of protection. We regularly help clients map their technology like triage, what “can’t break”, from payroll, donor tracking, accounting, to basic communication tools.
Taking inventory is about understanding dependencies, not just software names. Ask yourselves:
Which processes would immediately disrupt our day-to-day if a service stopped working?
Where do those processes “live”, is it just one cloud provider, or multiple?
2. Avoid Putting All Your Eggs in a Single Cloud
Cloud vendors love to promise “always on” service. Realistically, no one can deliver 100% uptime. Where possible, split your assets: run backups in a second region, or keep mission-critical files replicated in a separate platform, even if it’s simple and manual.
This isn’t overkill; it’s digital common sense. A nonprofit might use Office 365 and Google Workspace for key documents; a startup may have a backup payroll provider lined up. The goal is to keep your business moving, even if one service fails.
3. Build Recovery In, Not Around, Your Technology
Disaster recovery planning isn’t just a checkbox, it’s how you stay resilient in the face of the unknown. Regular, automated backups (cloud and offline), kept far away from your main cloud account, can save your data (and your sanity).
Test your recovery, don’t just trust it.
Zero Trust onboarding, the practice of never assuming anyone or anything on your network is “safe” by default, should extend to your suppliers and platforms. Each time you bring on a new system, ask simple, non-jargon questions:
What happens if this goes offline?
Who do we call?
What does “recovery” really mean in minutes or hours, not days?
4. Prioritize People-First Support
When you’re in a crisis, you need more than a console and a ticket number. Pick IT partners who pick up the phone, who explain, not sell. We believe in proactive, plainspoken support that reduces your stress in the moment, not just promises it’ll be smooth later.
Developing a relationship with a local, managed IT services provider (like 24hourtek, right here in San Francisco) means faster responses, more accountability, and solutions designed for you, not just generic, one-size-fits-all playbooks.
5. Future-Proofing IT Without Complexity
No business should have to “fight fires” year after year, hoping for better luck next time. Future-proofing isn’t just for Fortune 500s, it should be as routine as checking the smoke alarm.
Create a basic continuity checklist: what’s backed up, where, and how fast can it be restored?
Invest in “tabletop exercises.” Walk through hypothetical outages with your team. What would happen? Who owns each task?
This isn’t about predicting every risk; it’s about reducing surprises, so your team can act confidently when it matters most.
Cybersecurity for Nonprofits and SMBs, Don’t Overlook the Basics
There’s a strong link between resilience and security. Many organizations focus on advanced cybersecurity tools but overlook the essentials: multifactor authentication on all accounts, strong passwords, user training to spot phishing attempts, and regular patching.
Zero Trust onboarding is especially important here. Every new user, device, or tool must prove it belongs before it connects to your systems. This is less about paranoia and more about establishing digital “checkpoints”, the virtual locks and lights that keep your house safe without making it a fortress.
Managed Intelligence: Bringing Proactivity to IT
The AWS blackout reminds us that true resilience blends people, process, and technology. At 24hourtek, we call this “managed intelligence”, combining classic managed IT services with data-driven insights and a long-term, people-first philosophy.
Managed intelligence means more than waiting for alerts to ring; it means stepping back and asking the right questions before problems start. Are there patterns in your outages? Are your systems aging out? Is your staff being equipped for the next shift in the tech landscape, or are you playing catch-up?
The Real Benefit: Less Firefighting, More Focus
Business leaders shouldn’t have to worry about the next outage, the next phishing attempt, or whether a vendor is doing what they promise.
Our approach at 24hourtek is to remove that background noise through proactive planning, transparent communication, and relationships that last. We’re not here to sell you jargon or magic-bullet promises, we’re here so your IT quietly “just works” every day.
Key Takeaways, A Calmer, More Confident Path Forward
The AWS outage was a wake-up bell, not just for big tech but for any organization that depends on the cloud. Disruption will happen. Chaos doesn’t have to follow. Here’s what matters most:
Inventory your most vital processes and understand where their risks lie.
Diversify your backups and limit single points of failure.
Invest in people-first support and proactive planning.
Strengthen your foundation with “Zero Trust” onboarding and clear cybersecurity practices.
Seek managed intelligence, not just “support”, so your IT is ready before the next storm.
Reliable IT is like electricity: you shouldn’t have to think about it until it’s gone. By taking a few practical, people-first steps, you can ensure the lights (and your business) stay on, no matter what the next outage brings.
If this sounds familiar, or you’re ready to trade tech stress for partnership and peace of mind, we’re happy to help. Whether you’re in the heart of San Francisco or scaling a mission-driven nonprofit, we’ll meet you where you are, with clear answers and technology that just works.
About 24hourtek
24hourtek, Inc is a forward thinking managed service provider that offers ongoing IT support and strategic guidance to businesses. We meet with our clients at least once a month to review strategy, security posture, and provide guidance on future-proofing your IT.