Example #3 – Server Downtime

A business faced a number of problems in their order entry department when their main server crashed out-of-the-blue, resulting in delayed shipments and lost orders.

While the specific cause of the server crash was identified and corrected (an untested program update), the leadership team asked the CIO to take a step back and understand other potential causes behind server downtime, and then put countermeasures in place against those causes.

The CIO knew that a fishbone diagram would be a great starting point for this effort.

The problem statement was defined as “Main Server Downtime,” since the business had zero tolerance for any server downtime whatsoever.

The technical team identified four key problem areas including (a) Company Policies, (b) Technology, (c) Coding Methods, and (d) Other Issues.  After these issues were identified, the company took serious actions to ensure they were resolved so that server crashes could be avoided in future.

After these issues were identified, the company took a number of preventive actions to drastically reduce the chances of future server downtime.

fishbone diagram example - server downtime