Navigating the Realities of Website Downtime: Experience, Empathy, and Preparation

I’ve been building websites for banks for nearly 30 years now, going all the way back to 1995 when the idea of online banking was still a twinkle in a community bank’s eye. And after all that time, one thing I can tell you with complete certainty is this: even the most sophisticated technology platforms aren’t bulletproof. Not even the cloud. Every system, no matter how big or well-engineered, is bound to stumble now and then. But what really matters is how you handle the outage, how prepared you are, how clearly you communicate, and how quickly you recover. That’s what defines resilience in today’s digital world.

Just recently, Amazon AWS experienced a notable hosting disruption, and not long after, our own hosting platform, Microsoft Azure, had a brief outage of its own. Heck, I even joked about dodging the AWS bullet and how lucky we were that the recent outages hadn’t impacted our Microsoft Azure-hosted clients. Oops.

Looking back, I’ll admit, I almost felt guilty for even saying it out loud, especially after our Director of Technology gave me a look and said, "You know you just jinxed us, right?" Sure enough, just days later, Azure had its own hiccup. It was a humbling (and slightly ironic) reminder that no matter how large or sophisticated the platform, 100% uptime is always a goal, never a guarantee.

Why Do Bank Websites Go Down?

Before we get into the technical reasons, let’s acknowledge something important: it’s incredibly frustrating when your website goes down, especially in banking, where customers rely on 24/7 access. While we’d all love to believe our systems are invincible, the reality is that every digital platform is vulnerable to disruption at some point. Understanding the potential causes is the first step to being ready when it happens.

Let’s explore the common causes:

• Cloud provider outages (e.g., AWS, Azure)
• Software updates or bugs
• Traffic spikes (especially during statement days or promotions that overload capacity)
• Cyberattacks (DDoS, etc.)
• DNS or network configuration errors
• Any other unexpected factor that could interrupt the connection between your hosting environment and the end user—sometimes it's not a single point of failure, but a combination of subtle breakdowns along the way.

Even with best practices in place, outages happen. The key is how you prepare and respond.

Our Hosting Evolution: A Look Back

In the early days, we leveraged an all-in-one platform that did it all, hosting, content management, email marketing, blogging, and document management, wrapped up in a single, all-inclusive SaaS solution. It was convenient and served its purpose at the time, especially when expectations around compliance and reporting were less demanding.

But as the digital needs and expectations of community banks evolved and the regulatory landscape became more complex, we knew we needed more control. That led us to transition into a more dedicated hosting environment—one where we could manage the full ecosystem and tailor our chosen CMS to meet increasingly sophisticated banking requirements.

Fast forward to today, and we’re now three generations of hosting platforms into that journey, each move strategic in its nature. We've matured into a solid, .NET-based content management system that lives in what we believe is the best possible home: Microsoft Azure. It’s a powerful and scalable environment, and we’re confident it gives our clients the best combination of performance, flexibility, and security. But even with all that in place, it doesn’t mean we’re immune to issues. That’s why having a plan—and knowing how to communicate when things go sideways—is so critical.

What Should a Bank Do When the Website is Down?

At some point in the life of every website, yes, even yours, there’s going to be a disruption. It might be brief, or it might last a bit longer, but it will happen, especially in the world of banking, where 24/7 access is the expectation, that interruption can feel like a big deal to your customers. That’s why it’s not just about if a website goes down, it’s about when.

When that moment comes, how you respond makes all the difference. The good news? You can be ready for it.

Here are the steps we recommend:

• Stay calm. Your customers will reflect your tone.
• Communicate quickly and clearly through social media, email, and any available channels (but be careful not to say "too much" because both customers and criminals are looking for the next exploit opportunity… and the “bad guys” will likely be watching).
• Redirect traffic to mobile apps or phone banking options, as many times these will remain uninterrupted during the outage.
• Have templated messages ready for different channels.
• Review the outage post-mortem to learn from the event.

Sure, it's not going to be the most fun you've had at the bank, but this is your chance to demonstrate transparency, leadership, and empathy. Especially if the outage is one that is gaining national attention, as was the case with AWS and Azure, they will understand.

How to Communicate Website Downtime to Customers

When your website goes down, your customers are going to have questions, and fast. How you respond in those first few moments sets the tone for their trust going forward. This is where a clear, honest communication plan becomes your greatest asset. It’s not just about making a statement; it’s about reassuring your audience that you're on top of the situation and they’re still in good hands.

Your message should answer:

• What happened (in simple terms)
• What services are impacted
• What customers can do in the meantime (remember, your mobile banking app is a great resource for account access in times like these)
• When they can expect updates

Be Proactive with Customer Communication Channels

One of the most important, but often overlooked, parts of an effective outage response is simply having a way to reach your customers quickly. It's not enough to just wait until something goes wrong and then scramble to respond. You need those communication channels in place ahead of time.

For example, make sure you have updated customer email addresses on file. An outage like this can even serve as a useful reminder to your frontline and support staff to encourage customers to provide or confirm their email addresses, not just for marketing, but to ensure the bank has a way to reach them when it matters most.

Even more direct is SMS or mobile text messaging. When used sparingly and intentionally, text alerts can be one of the fastest ways to notify customers of a service interruption or even a security issue. Just be mindful to reserve this channel for critical, time-sensitive updates so it remains effective.

Make sure to prepare ahead of time:

• Lean on your pre-written message templates for email, SMS, and social
• A dedicated status or help page, if feasible
• An internal escalation process to keep your staff in the loop

Final Thoughts: Empathy From Someone Who’s Been There

Let’s be real. I’ve been the one taking those tough calls when customers couldn’t access their accounts. I know how uncomfortable it feels when your digital presence goes dark.

But that’s also why I care so deeply about helping banks prepare. We build secure, scalable bank websites, but we also help you develop communication strategies so that when the storm hits, you’re not scrambling.

Next time you see a major cloud provider in the news, don’t laugh too hard; you never know when it’ll be your turn. But when it is, make sure you're ready.

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P.S. Be sure to check out our other article about building a solid emergency communication plan.