In this episode of Upside, Ali & Zamir are joined by Danu Abeysuriya to unpack the recent Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage that sent ripples through the digital world. The incident disrupted everything from Seller Central logins to Amazon’s own checkout processes, shining a spotlight on just how dependent global infrastructure has become on a single provider. Together, they explore what really happened, why it matters, and how brands can prepare for similar disruptions in the future.

What’s Covered in This Episode

When AWS goes down, so does a huge portion of the internet. Ali, Zamir, and Danu dive into the scale of the outage, explaining how AWS powers roughly 30% of all online services and why this concentration of control raises questions about resilience and risk.

Danu breaks down the technical side, including DNS failures and the cascading effects that occur when one system falters inside a massive network. The team then looks at the business impact, from halted sales and frustrated customers to the growing importance of redundancy, backup planning, and cyber insurance.

The conversation also highlights Amazon’s communication during the crisis and what it revealed about transparency in tech giants. The trio close with practical takeaways for sellers and digital businesses on how to diversify infrastructure and build systems that can withstand future shocks.

Key Takeaways

• AWS runs the internet: Around 30% of global digital infrastructure relies on AWS, making outages widely disruptive.
• Sales standstills: During the outage, customers struggled to complete Amazon purchases, showing how dependent commerce is on one system.
• Redundancy is essential: Businesses must invest in failover systems and disaster recovery plans to protect operations during downtime.
• Amazon’s response: Transparent communication helped restore trust, offering a case study in effective crisis management.
• Diversify or risk exposure: Relying on one cloud provider increases vulnerability; multi-cloud strategies and cyber insurance reduce risk.
• Old tech, new problems: The discussion highlights DNS as a potential weak point and stresses the need for continuous infrastructure updates.