The recent global IT outage is a stark reminder that even the most advanced organizations can have bad days. Major disruptions can have significant downstream impacts that can lead to disappointed customers, lost revenue, deferred processes and even legal action if the downtime is considerable. With the rapid pace of technological change and the continued digital transformation intensified by AI, disruptions are no longer “unexpected.” They are part of the normal course of business.

In an era where efficiency and smart technology integration are key, 71% of technical leaders report their companies are expanding their investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) this year. With the sheer volume of data coming into the enterprise and the need for timely response, monitoring every incoming alert around the clock is impractical, and human vigilance alone is too imprecise.

Global IT disruptions and outages are becoming the new normal, testing the operational resilience of businesses everywhere. How well prepared your team is to handle major incidents determines how fast the business can return to normal. Operations Centers are relied on to manage these disruptions and ensure quick recovery. They’re the point of entry for incoming data that holds important signals of impending failure that impact customers, the business, and the bottom line.

As organizations increasingly rely on complex digital infrastructure, they must be ready to move rapidly when major incidents occur. The recent global outage has shown just how fragile IT systems can be. With mounting pressure to deliver seamless customer experiences, GenAI and automation present an opportunity to manage risk more effectively, by ensuring responders have the right information to restore services quickly.

While they are untimely, stressful and likely to highlight communication breakdowns within an organization; incidents can be a powerful tool for learning and growth in organizations. When an incident occurs with a large impact, which it feels like we read about this happening in the news on a weekly basis, oftentimes the focus is on two things: stabilizing the situation, and controlling the narrative. Organizations often miss the opportunity incidents present: learning.

Read the full ebook, The Value of Implementing an Automation Center of Excellence, here. Automation has been a proven change-maker for business operations for decades. In this era of technology and innovation, its use is geared towards streamlining repetitive tasks, boosting developer productivity, and reducing operational costs.

Since I wrote DORA vs DORA!, a number of people have asked if I could give more practical advice on how the PagerDuty Operations Cloud can play a part in helping firms in the Financial Services Industry (FSI) to meet their obligations under DORA. Let me try to do that now.

The PagerDuty Operations Cloud empowers modern enterprises to tackle critical operations work and deliver on top strategic initiatives. From transforming incident management to modernizing NOC operations, streamlining automation, and improving customer experience, the PagerDuty Operations Cloud enables organizations to augment their workforce with AI and automation. This approach ensures our customers can operate more efficiently, accelerate innovation velocity, and sustain seamless digital experiences.