How Companies Are Preparing Their Tech To Stay Ahead Of Disasters

Imagine you’re managing an online shop, and just as a major sale kicks off, your website goes down. Customers can’t buy anything, your team is in a frenzy, and the losses pile up fast. In a world where businesses depend on technology for nearly everything, these kinds of disruptions can be a nightmare.

But what if companies could rehearse for these moments ahead of time? That’s where chaos engineering and Gameday exercises come in – smart, practical ways to prepare for tech troubles. This article dives into how these methods help businesses stay steady, featuring insights from technologist Abhiraj, a recognized expert in the field, and a hands-on guide crafted from his work for readers to try themselves. 

Turning Breakdowns into Practice Runs 

Chaos engineering is all about getting ahead of surprises. It’s a way for companies to test their technology like websites, apps, or individual services like payment systems by pretending something breaks. Think of it like a school earthquake drill: you practice what to do when the ground shakes, but no one’s actually in danger.

In this case, a team might imagine their app crashing under a flood of users or a server going offline. The goal? To see how well their systems and their people handle the mess.

Gameday exercises take this idea and make it a team event. It’s like a rehearsal where everyone gathers and says, “Okay, let’s pretend our delivery tracking system just failed, now what?” They walk through the problem together, testing their fixes and communication.

It’s not just about the tech; it’s about practicing how the team responds when things get tricky. Abhiraj, who has spent years refining these methods with companies, emphasizes their value: “Chaos engineering and Gamedays turn potential disasters into controlled learning moments, building resilience step by step.” 

Why This Matters to Big Businesses

For companies tied to technology, think online retailers, banks, or logistics firms, these practices are a lifeline. When systems fail, even briefly, it’s not just money on the line; it’s customer trust and reputation too. A downtime during peak moments, like a holiday sale, can turn a good day into a disaster.

Practicing with Gamedays helps teams dodge that chaos by figuring out solutions before the stakes are real. Picture a ride-sharing company: if their app stops showing drivers where to go, rides get delayed, and customers cancel.

A Gameday might simulate that glitch, letting the team test workarounds, like manual dispatch calls, before it ever happens or right when it happens, minimizing downtime. It’s about building confidence that they can keep moving, no matter what. 

Lessons from the Field 

Real-world examples show how these exercises pay off. One company thought their systems were solid until a Gameday revealed their emergency plan was outdated, fixing it saved them when a real issue hit later.

Another tip? Create a “risk map”, a simple chart highlighting which parts of your tech are most likely to fail so you know where to focus. The best lessons come from seeing what breaks under pressure and how your team adapts. That’s where the real strength gets built.

Some might ask: Isn’t it dangerous to mess with your own systems? The answer is no, it’s not about breaking things for no reason. These tests start small and safe, like in a sandbox where nothing real gets hurt. And for businesses worried about the cost, it’s cheaper to practice than to clean up a real mess later. 

How Your Company Can Get Started: A Step-by-Step Guide 

Ready to give this a shot in your own business? Below is a detailed, beginner-friendly guide straight from Abhiraj, based on his work executing countless Gameday tests in both testing and production instances, identifying numerous incident prevention learnings that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.

This guide is a reframed version of a gameday playbook that he created from scratch for major tech companies, helping various teams prepare for technology mishaps. It’s written in plain language; with practical steps, any company can adapt irrespective of the size. 

Step 1: Choose Your Target

Pick one critical piece of your business to test. What would cause the biggest headache if it broke? For a café with online orders, it might be the ordering app. For a small manufacturer, maybe it’s the inventory tracker. Focus on something vital but manageable and don’t try to test everything at once. 

Step 2: Come Up with a Disaster Plan

Craft realistic failures, by developing 3–4 scenarios that reflect both historical incidents and potential future risks. “Brainstorm a realistic problem that could hit your target,” Abhiraj suggests. Think about past issues or risks you’ve worried about. Maybe the app freezes during a rush, or major dependency on a cloud services provider. As an added remark – choose one scenario that feels plausible as your starting point. 

Step 3: Assemble Your Crew

Gather the people who’d handle this in real life—tech staff, customer-facing team, engineering manager, & communications team, etc. Start with a small group, 4-6 people, and pick a calm time for your Gameday. Tell them it’s practice, not panic. Document execution steps, anticipated system behavior, and set up metrics to measure success, ranging from error rates to alert response times. 

Step 4: Set Up the Scene

On Gameday, lay out the scenario clearly. Ideally, you should be able to use a test setup to play it out safely. If not, talk it through: who does what, when, and how? Let the team respond like it’s real. If available use fault injection tools and try to create controlled disruptions, execute the scenarios in testing environments and gradually move to production as the team builds the required muscle. 

Step 5: Observe the Action

Watch how it unfolds. Does the team know their roles? Are they talking to each other? Maybe the fix works, but no one tells customers what’s happening, that’s a gap to note. Don’t interrupt; let them figure it out, and jot down what stands out. Record the whole execution, fix time, and assign someone to take notes so you don’t miss key lessons. 

Step 6: Debrief and Improve

Afterward, sit down for 15-20 minutes and discuss: What went smoothly? What tripped you up? Did anything surprise you? Keep it light, with no finger-pointing, and just focus on what you learned. Decide on one or two changes to make, like updating a contact list or adding a backup step. 

Step 7: Build on It

“Do it again in a month or two,” Abhiraj encourages. Plan another Gameday in a month or two and test a different scenario or tweak the last one based on what you learned. Each round makes your team sharper and your business tougher. Aim to do this a few times a year for all your major services, it’s like flexing a muscle that gets stronger with use. 

Additional points to consider

. Keep It Safe: Start small, in a test environment with no real stakes.

. Focus on People: It’s as much about teamwork as tech.

. Grow Gradually: Once it’s easy, test bigger pieces. 

A Smarter Way Forward 

In a world where we lean on technology more every day, chaos engineering and Gameday exercises are like a safety net for companies. They turn “what if” worries into “we’ve got this” confidence. It’s not about avoiding every glitch, that’s impossible, but about knowing how to bounce back fast. As Abhiraj put it, “The best teams don’t fear the mess; they’ve already practiced it.”

So next time you hear about a big company dodging a tech disaster, there’s a chance they’ve been playing these “games” behind the scenes. Maybe it’s time more businesses, and even us regular folks, start thinking about how to embrace a little chaos to make our systems run smoother. After all, a little practice today could save a lot of headaches tomorrow.