When Some of the Internet Breaks – A Note From Our CEO

Written by Michael Biggerstaff

May 9, 2017

One of the things that you learn pretty quickly in the software business is that software is built to run on top of other software and hardware.  Not only does it run, but it all also has to be working really well and in concert with each other to be that effective harmony you want to have, every minute of every day. Well, today a part of the internet was broken for about 3 hours as Amazon’s Web Services decided it wasn’t going to work but instead it was going to take a long lunch. We went right to work to make sure we knew the reason and did everything we could to make sure we would go up as soon as the Amazon portion was corrected. Our team was on it and I was really proud of their effort. We also learned that we need to have a “plan B” when things like this occur. I could say, “Well it will never happen again” but I know that isn’t the case. It will at some point and when it does we will be ready with a fallback to use if it makes sense based on the circumstances.

Fundamentally, the world’s largest online retailer isn’t going to have many breakdowns but they had this one and one thing you know is, it’ll happen again. Our commitment to our publishers and readers is that we will be up and running when they need us. We will do our best to make sure that happens but when a link breaks in the software chain we will try and get the word out and let you know about the problem so when a reader touches base with you, our customer, you have something to tell them.

We really do love this business, it just makes it hard at times when something you have no control over happens and it affects you and the only way to fix it is just wait for someone else to fix their link in the chain. We are committed to the best service in the industry but it just makes it harder when the internet breaks. Have a great day! I know I will now that the internet is running again.