Resiliency Engineering

Case Study #1: Hospital

As of December 8, 2020, Tijuana, which lies in the westernmost region of Mexico, has more than a million confirmed cases of COVID-19. Much like other places, the city has been struggling to contain the outbreak. The hospitals there are doing their best, but are overwhelmed with patients, and their front line responders are working around the clock. However, this situation became even more dire during the last week of October when, from the 23rd to the 25th, Tijuana’s General Hospital was hit with a sudden power outage. According to one of the doctors, “There were areas of the hospital that were very dark, there was no light whatsoever in some areas where we have patients. Elevators weren’t working, we couldn’t move patients, we couldn’t release patients, we couldn’t move people down for X-rays, couldn’t get food or water to patients, it was complicated.” By the time power was restored, five COVID-19 patients had already died, their ventilators having failed because of the lack of electricity. It is very difficult to say whether these five people would have survived, had the hospital’s power system been architected more resiliently. After all, they were infected with the novel coronavirus and were already unable to breathe on their own. But what is known is this – had Resiliency Engineering been more at play in Tijuana’s General Hospital, perhaps the situation might not have been as dire as the doctor described it to be. Perhaps, those five patients would still be alive. Of course, this example is not isolated to Tijuana’s General Hospital; the described situation can affect any hospital at any time.

Case Study #2: Financial Institution

In February 2019, the banking behemoth, Wells Fargo, was hit with widespread outages and a series of glitches, which rendered their automated systems and customer service representatives unable to access their network. The situation also left the majority of their customers without access to their bank accounts, which meant that their financial transactions were failing to go through. Withdrawing cash to pay the bills, depositing money for payroll, and even swiping a debit card for gas – all these were inaccessible. Later that day, executives from Wells Fargo announced that this catastrophe had been caused by a power shutdown when smoke was detected during a routine facility maintenance check. They also cautioned their customers against potential cyber attackers, whom they claimed would take advantage of the chaotic situation to phish, obtain information, and potentially exploit the situation. The paradigm that Wells Fargo faced perfectly illustrates the significance of Resiliency Engineering, especially amidst a world that is rapidly going digital. Perhaps, had the bank’s systems and structures been more resilient, they might have continued operating, despite a power shutdown. Thousands of people might have still been able to access their money, rather than being forced to remain vigilant for signs of questionable activities. Of course, this example is not isolated to Wells Fargo; the described situation can affect any financial institution at any time.

The Critical Role of Resiliency Engineering

It goes without saying that Resiliency Engineering plays a critical role in today’s day and age. With so much of our world reliant upon digital systems and online tools, incidents such as power failures and information technology (IT) system outages/glitches should not be allowed to cause as much damage as they previously did. The power should remain on, allowing essential services, like hospitals and grocery stores, to remain operational. When a segment of an IT system experiences an issue, ideally, the rest of the system should remain functional, which means that business operations will not grind to a halt, thereby causing a ripple effect that will profoundly impact the community-at-large.

Resiliency Engineering Consulting Services to Identify Mitigating Actions for Enhancing Resiliency

Despite our desire to have an ideal paradigm, in accordance with Murphy's Law, incidents occur every day. Indeed, as systems grow increasingly complicated, and the interconnection of these systems introduce complexity at an unprecedented scale, it is crucial to employ Resiliency Engineering so as to avoid the blindspots that will undoubtedly occur amidst infrastructural investment shortfalls and unfunded mandates/gaps. Our expert team of engineers, information technology professionals, and resiliency consultants can assist you in analyzing your system and taking the necessary mitigating actions for enhancing resiliency.

Our Assessment Framework and Resiliency Engineering Consulting Services are a Highly Effective Combination