As an insurance executive, you know that network outages can happen at any time, causing significant disruptions to your business operations. The recent outage experienced by the Sui blockchain serves as a reminder of the importance of being prepared for such incidents. In this post, we’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for network outages and minimize their impact on your business.

Introduction

On November 21, the Sui blockchain suffered its first significant network outage, halting block production for over two hours. A bug in the network’s congestion control system caused validators to crash, bringing all transaction processing to a standstill. While the outage was resolved quickly, it served as a critical stress test for Sui’s systems. The incident has rattled many investors, and observers have drawn parallels between Sui’s trajectory and Solana’s early days.

Step 1: Assess Your Risk

The first step in preparing for network outages is to assess your risk. Consider the potential impact of an outage on your business operations, revenue, and reputation. Identify critical systems and applications that could be affected by an outage and prioritize them based on their importance to your business.

Step 2: Develop a Contingency Plan

Once you’ve assessed your risk, develop a contingency plan that outlines the steps you’ll take in the event of an outage. Your plan should include procedures for identifying and diagnosing the cause of the outage, communicating with stakeholders, and restoring normal operations as quickly as possible.

Step 3: Test Your Plan

Testing your contingency plan is crucial to ensure that it works as intended. Conduct regular drills to simulate different outage scenarios and identify any weaknesses in your plan. Use the results of these tests to refine your plan and improve your response times.

Step 4: Consider Parametric Insurance

Parametric insurance is a type of insurance that pays out when specific predefined conditions are met. It can be an effective way to mitigate the financial impact of network outages. Consider working with Riskwolf to develop parametric insurance tailored to your business needs. With Riskwolf, you can turn real-time data into insurance, enabling you to build and operate parametric insurance at scale.

Step 5: Learn from Incidents

Finally, it’s essential to learn from incidents like the one experienced by Sui. Conduct a post-mortem analysis to identify the root cause of the outage and determine what steps you can take to prevent similar incidents in the future. Use this information to refine your contingency plan and improve your overall preparedness for network outages.

In conclusion, network outages can have a significant impact on your business operations, revenue, and reputation. By assessing your risk, developing a contingency plan, testing your plan, considering parametric insurance, and learning from incidents, you can minimize the impact of network outages and ensure that your business is prepared for any eventuality.

Read more about Sui’s recent incident here.