Who is this research for? Chief Information Officers (CIOs), operations executives, risk managers, business continuity teams, and other leaders responsible for organizational resilience and customer service.
Top Answer
IT outages can continue hurting a business after the technology is restored because technical recovery does not necessarily mean operational recovery. We call this persistence, the continuation or escalation of disruption even after the affected technology has partially or fully recovered. New research suggests that backlogged demand, information bottlenecks, missing operational capacity, and customer uncertainty can create aftereffects that prolong a disruption. For leaders, that means measuring an outage by how long a system was down may miss much of the business risk. Organizations may need to monitor whether technology can meet actual demand, understand which business capabilities depend on it, prepare for post-recovery backlogs, and communicate clearly with customers. The goal should not simply be restoring IT. It should be restoring the business.
Executive Summary
When an important technology system goes down, organizations typically focus on one question: How quickly can we get it back online? New research from Dr. Varun Grover (Department of Information Systems, Sam M. Walton College of Business), Amin K. Amiri (Tilburg University), and Hasan Cavusoglu and Izak Benbasat (University of British Columbia) suggests executives should ask a broader question: What will it take to get the business back to normal?
The researchers examined 28 incidents involving information technology unavailability across different industries. Instead of using the traditional definition of “uptime” and “downtime,” they define IT unavailability in terms of unmet requests for IT resources needed to support business operations. A system can therefore technically be running while still failing to provide enough capacity to meet demand.
The researchers also identify three dynamics that can make disruptions persist: IT inertia, information inertia, and business inertia. A backlog of information requests can generate renewed pressure on technology after it returns. Unmet customer demand can create additional information demands. Disrupted operations can also leave organizations without the people, physical resources, or other capabilities needed to resume normal service.
Consider an airline whose IT system returns after an outage. Aircraft may now be in the wrong locations, crews may have exceeded allowable working hours, gates may no longer be available, and delayed passengers may be competing with newly arriving customers for service. Fixing the original technology problem does not immediately resolve those downstream constraints.
For executives, the implication is significant. Resilience should extend beyond preventing outages and restoring technology. Leaders may also need to prepare for post-outage demand, map dependencies between IT and business capabilities, preserve operational capacity, prioritize critical services, and communicate realistic recovery information.
Expert Insights: What should leaders know about recovering from IT outages?
What should executives measure instead of relying only on system uptime?
Dr. Varun Grover notes: “Uptime tells you whether the technology is running. It does not necessarily tell you whether the business is being served. We argue that managers should also ask how much demand for the IT resource is still going unmet. A system can technically be ‘up’ and still be unavailable in a meaningful business sense if it cannot handle the requests coming in.”
→ Takeaway: Measure whether IT can meet actual business demands, not simply whether the system is technically running.
How can leaders identify the business capabilities most likely to slow recovery after an IT outage?
Dr. Varun Grover adds: “Ask basic questions like what else has to be available for the business to operate once the IT comes back--people, physical assets, manual processes, logistics, even regulatory constraints. Those complementary capabilities can become bottlenecks.”
→ Takeaway: Map the people, processes, physical assets, and other resources that must recover alongside the technology.
What should companies do immediately after restoring a system to prevent a second wave of disruption?
Dr. Varun Grover explains: “Getting the system back is not the end of the incident. Managers should actively triage critical requests, manage demand, add capacity where possible, and watch for bottlenecks elsewhere in the business.”
→ Takeaway: Manage backlogs and new demand proactively so that recovery does not trigger another round of failures.
How should companies communicate with customers when they cannot confidently predict full service recovery?
Dr. Varun Grover notes: “Customers need clear and timely information about what to expect and what their options are. This is what we call ‘client limbo,’ which creates dissatisfaction beyond the service failure itself.”
→ Takeaway: Reduce “client limbo” with timely, transparent updates about what customers should expect and what options they have.
Link to the Original Research
Published in Information Systems Research (2025)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can an IT outage affect a business after the system is restored?
An IT outage can create problems that remain after the technology itself is working again. The research suggests that unmet requests can accumulate during a disruption, creating backlogs in technology, information, and business operations. Organizations may also lose access to complementary resources such as employees, equipment, or physical capacity. When service resumes, new demand arrives alongside this backlog. These pressures can reinforce one another, meaning technical recovery may happen before operational recovery. Leaders therefore need to consider the entire business system surrounding the technology, not just whether the original IT resource has returned.
What are IT inertia, information inertia, and business inertia?
The researchers use these terms for three reinforcing feedback loops that may prolong disruption. IT inertia occurs when accumulated information demand creates additional pressure on IT resources. Information inertia occurs when unmet business demand generates more demand for information, worsening information bottlenecks. Business inertia occurs when disrupted operations create shortages in complementary resources, such as labor or physical assets, which further constrain the organization's ability to serve customers. These loops can operate separately or together. When multiple loops are active, the research suggests that disruption can become particularly persistent.
How can companies reduce the business impact of an IT outage?
The research points to several possible interventions. Organizations can build greater flexibility into IT capacity, prioritize critical IT requests, reduce avoidable demand during a disruption, and prepare backup approaches for indispensable capabilities. Leaders can also map the non-IT resources that critical operations require, including employees, physical assets, and manual processes. Clear customer communication matters as well because uncertainty about recovery can contribute to dissatisfaction. The broader lesson is that outage preparation should connect IT recovery with business recovery rather than treating them as separate activities.
Why does customer communication matter during an IT outage?
Customers may be frustrated not only by delayed or unavailable service but also by uncertainty. The researchers call this client limbo: a state in which customers feel trapped because they do not know how long they will wait or what will happen next. That uncertainty can add to dissatisfaction even when the organization is actively restoring service. Clear, timely information about expected recovery can therefore be part of operational resilience. Companies may not always be able to eliminate delays, but helping customers understand their options and what to expect may reduce some of the additional harm created by uncertainty.
