When Amazon Web Services (AWS) went down, it didn’t just take out websites — it briefly broke the internet. From Snapchat and Reddit to Lloyds Bank and Fortnite, more than 1,000 companies were affected, leaving millions of users disconnected.
For Managed Service Providers (MSPs), this wasn’t just headline news — it was a wake-up call. The outage revealed the hidden fragility of cloud dependency, highlighting critical lessons for MSPs tasked with keeping their clients’ operations always-on.
Here are five key takeaways MSPs should draw from the AWS outage.
1. Redundancy Is Not Optional — It’s a Sales Advantage
AWS’s DNS failure in Virginia brought down vast portions of the web, reminding everyone that even “bulletproof” infrastructure can stumble. MSPs should view redundancy not as a luxury, but as a differentiator.
Build multi-cloud strategies — combining AWS, Azure, or even localized hosting — so that clients aren’t caught off guard when one provider falters. The ability to say “our systems stay up when others go down” is a compelling sales message.
2. Transparency Builds Trust During Chaos
When something breaks, communication is everything. During the outage, AWS updates were slow to appear, leaving IT leaders scrambling for information.
MSPs can learn from this by creating crisis communication playbooks: real-time updates, proactive emails, and dashboard alerts. When clients see that you’re ahead of the curve, your value skyrockets — even in downtime.
3. Centralization Creates Efficiency — and Fragility
The outage exposed a global dependency problem. When one data center falters, the ripple effect can hit banking, gaming, and government systems alike.
MSPs that consolidate too much with a single vendor face the same risk. Consider diversification at every layer — DNS, storage, networking, and security. Vendor consolidation saves time, but balance it with distributed reliability.
4. Offer Clients “Resilience as a Service”
The AWS crash is a perfect example MSPs can use in business discussions: resilience has tangible ROI.
Educate clients on uptime guarantees, disaster recovery testing, and hybrid-cloud architecture. Package these into “resilience as a service” offerings — where MSPs don’t just manage IT, but ensure survivability. It’s an opportunity to upsell higher-value services with measurable business continuity benefits.
5. Use High-Profile Outages as Educational Moments
When the internet “breaks,” everyone pays attention. MSPs should capitalize on such events to spark client conversations.
A quick LinkedIn post or newsletter explaining what happened, why it matters, and how your team prevents similar issues positions your MSP as a thought leader. Each crisis is an opportunity to build authority and deepen trust.
AWS may have stumbled, but for MSPs, the outage was a masterclass in resilience, communication, and opportunity.
The message is clear: don’t wait for a failure to prove your value. Build redundancy, communicate transparently, and educate constantly. Because in today’s cloud-first world, resilience is the ultimate competitive edge.
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