Building Your Outage Readiness Plan

Cloudflare went down for a few hours this morning and took ChatGPT, Shopify, Indeed, X and dozens of other major services with it.

The cause was simple: a configuration file grew larger than expected and crashed a core system.

No attack. No hackers. Just one oversized file.

Everything has returned (for now), but the pattern is the bigger story.

AWS had a daylong outage just weeks ago. Azure followed with its own disruption. And CrowdStrike’s faulty update last year shut down airports, hospitals and banks.

The modern internet sits on a narrow stack of cloud providers, and when one cracks, thousands of businesses feel it immediately.

The next outage could last longer. The smart move is not to panic.

It is to prepare.

A Practical Outage Readiness Plan

1️⃣ Build an AI Backup Kit

If your teams rely on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or custom GPTs, create a fast-switch playbook.

⭐️ How to do it:

1. For every custom GPT or AI project, run this prompt:
   
   “Generate me a robust prompt that can migrate the outputs and services you provide to another LLM in the instance of a system outage.”
   

2. Save every output as a simple text file.

3. Store these files in two places:

   • A local folder on your computer

   • A shared internal server, NAS drive or offline-accessible storage

4. Label the folder “AI Outage Backup Kit.”

You should be able to reach this kit even if all cloud platforms go silent.

2️⃣ Keep Your Training Files Stored Locally

A cloud outage means any cloud storage could be unreachable. You need dual-format backups.

⭐️ How to do it:

1. Take every file you have uploaded to GPT or other AI tools.

2. Store them in:

   • Internal server

   • External hard drive

   • NAS device accessible through LAN

3. Export everything important into a stable format like PDF.

4. Make sure at least one copy exists on infrastructure that stays available even if the internet collapses.

This keeps your team functional when cloud access breaks.

3️⃣ Set Up a Secondary Tool That Runs on Your Own Sources

Teams should have access to a backup workspace that can operate entirely from supplied documents.

You can use any document-driven AI workspace. The exact tool does not matter, what matters is the setup.

⭐️ How to set it up:

1. Choose a tool that allows source uploads

   • Examples include Notion AI (with documents), Workspace-based AI tools, or document-centric AI platforms.

   • Requirements:

     • Upload PDFs, Docs, and text files

     • Run prompts against only those sources

     • Generate answers without requiring external model access

2. Create a dedicated workspace called “Outage Mode”
   This keeps your emergency environment separate and clean.

3. Upload 20 to 300 key sources per team

   • Client onboarding documents

   • Playbooks

   • Messaging guidelines

   • Performance reports

   • Research packets

   • Everything you rely on in GPT

4. Label everything clearly

   • “Client A Strategy Docs”

   • “Brand Voice for Team X”

   • “Internal Training Master Files”

   • “Research Archive”

5. Pre-test your prompts
   Run a few daily workflow prompts inside the tool so teams know what changes and what stays the same.

6. Document the new workflow in a shared page
   Create a simple instruction sheet:

   • Where the backup tool lives

   • What sources to use

   • Which prompts replicate GPT-style requests

   • Who maintains the workspace

7. Add this workspace to your onboarding process
   If new employees learn it from day one, outages stop being emergencies.

This is how a team creates a functional fallback environment before they need it.

4️⃣ Map Your Critical Dependencies

Not every system needs an offline alternative. You just need clarity on what breaks.

⭐️ How to do it:

1. List your core systems: email, CRM, project tools, AI, analytics, messaging, file storage.

2. Identify which ones stop working offline.

3. Document:

   • What slows down

   • What stops entirely

   • What manual processes can replace digital ones

4. Store this in an “Offline Continuity Plan” that lives both online and on local drives.

This prevents panic and improvisation during outages.

5️⃣ Consider a Locally Hosted LLM

A small open-source model hosted on your network gives your company a self-contained intelligence system.

⭐️ How to do it:

1. Pick a lightweight model such as Llama.

2. Host it on an on-prem server or secure local machine.

3. Add internal documents and training data.

4. Allow employees to access it through an internal-only interface.

This protects your institutional knowledge whether or not external platforms are reachable.

Why it Matters

This time, Cloudflare’s outage was measured in hours. The next disruption could be longer.

When cloud systems break, your business should not, and teams that prepare now can avoid scrambling later.