When service stops.
WHAT CAUSES OUTAGES
Upstream failure Power failure Fibre cuts Equipment failure Wireless interference or link degradation Configuration error Theft or damage
WHY CONFIGURATION ERROR DESERVES MENTION
It is a leading cause of self-inflicted outages.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Change control: what is changed, when, by whom, and how it is reversed.
WHY
Changes made without record cannot be undone under pressure.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT CHANGES
That significant ones are made in defined windows, not during peak.
WHAT MONITORING SHOULD PROVIDE
Alerts when sites, links or equipment fail Visibility of capacity and errors A view of what is affected
WHY IT MATTERS
Knowing before subscribers do is the difference between an incident and a crisis.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Who responds, and how they are contacted outside hours.
WHAT RESPONSE REQUIRES
Establishing scope: what is affected
Establishing cause Restoring service, before investigating fully Communicating throughout
WHY RESTORE FIRST
Subscribers want service, not explanation.
WHAT TO KEEP
Spares for critical equipment.
WHY
Lead times mean a failed core device without a spare is a prolonged outage.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Which failures you can recover from quickly, and which you cannot.
WHAT TO DO AFTERWARDS
Establish the cause, and address it.
WHAT TO RECORD
Every outage: duration, affected subscribers, cause and resolution.
WHAT TO REVIEW
Causes over time.
WHAT REPEATED CAUSES INDICATE
A design or maintenance problem.
