Optus outage: process exists for a reason
Optus' outage is linked to deaths because process was not followed. Follow the process - or change it first.
Optus' service outage is linked to four people's deaths. Someone did not follow a process.
They had a way to switch all calls to a different core network while they did the work. That step was skipped.
We have successfully completed similar operates in the past and it should be reiterated that the issue occurred because of this time there was a deviation from established processes.
Several people died because of it.
Red tape drives me nuts too. Still: process is usually there because of a past mistake, a safer sequence, a handoff to another team, or something someone learned the hard way.
If the process is slow, wrong, or pointless:
- Find out why it was designed that way - you may be missing the failure it prevents
- Change it properly
- Follow the current one until the change lands
Skipping it because you "know better" is how you get the quote above.
Later reporting on the September 2025 Triple Zero outage and the independent review fills in more operational detail. The sequence stays the same: deviate from the established path, live with the blast radius.
Find this on LinkedIn and give it a thumbs up: Optus outage: process exists for a reason
Related
- A Reality Check on Cloud Reliability for when vendor "bypass it" advice is not a plan
- Mitigating Single Points of Failure for HA, DR, and BCP that survive process failure