In the fast-paced world of digital technology, mobile applications have become integral tools for large enterprises to connect with their customers and drive business growth. However, even meticulously tested applications are not immune to outages, which can have far-reaching consequences on both end users and the reputation of the organizations behind these apps.
The Unforeseen Downtime
Recent incidents have demonstrated that even the most robust mobile applications can experience unexpected downtime. Large enterprises, renowned for their sophisticated infrastructure and rigorous testing processes, have faced severe outages that left users stranded without access to critical services. This issue is not unique to Hong Kong but is a global phenomenon. Below are some incidents found through a simple Google search:
Examples of Mobile App Bugs That Harmed Major Companies
- A bug in Revolut’s mobile app went unnoticed for months, causing a $20 million loss for the company
- A bug in Apple’s FaceTime app allowed users to eavesdrop on others, leading to a lawsuit and significant reputational damage
- In May 2024, Sonos rolled out a new version of their primary app, which ended up being full of bugs. This caused a $30 million fallout for the company. [1]
- In March 2021, Microsoft Teams experienced a significant outage, affecting users’ ability to access the app on mobile devices. The outage disrupted remote work and communication for many businesses. [2]
Impact on End Users
The downtime of a mobile application can have a profound impact on end users. From disrupted workflows to missed opportunities, individuals relying on these applications for everyday tasks are left stranded and disillusioned. In the case of financial applications, such outages can even lead to panic and uncertainty among users, affecting their trust in the company’s services.
Reputation at Stake
Furthermore, the reputation of large enterprises is closely tied to the performance of their mobile applications. A single outage can tarnish years of brand building and customer trust, leading to negative publicity and a loss of credibility in the eyes of the public. Customers who once relied on these applications may turn to competitors, resulting in long-term damage to the company’s market position
Addressing with LaunchDarkly
Feature flag tools like LaunchDarkly can play a crucial role in addressing and mitigating the impact of mobile application outages on large enterprises. Here’s how LaunchDarkly and similar tools can help in this context:
- Rolling out Features Safely: Feature flags enable companies to roll out new features gradually to a subset of users. By using feature flags, companies can test new functionalities in a controlled environment, reducing the risk of introducing bugs that could lead to outages.
- Instant Rollbacks: In the event of an outage caused by a new feature or code change, feature flag tools like LaunchDarkly allow for instant rollbacks by toggling off the problematic feature flag. This quick response capability can help restore service reliability and minimize downtime.
- A/B Testing: Feature flag tools also support A/B testing, allowing companies to compare the performance of different feature variations and make data-driven decisions. By testing changes on a subset of users, organizations can identify and address potential issues before a full rollout.
- Granular Control: With feature flags, companies have granular control over which features are enabled or disabled for specific user segments. This flexibility allows for targeted troubleshooting and the ability to isolate issues to specific user groups, minimizing the impact of outages.
- Configuration Management: Feature flag tools provide centralized configuration management, making it easier to manage feature flags across different environments and applications. This centralized approach streamlines the process of deploying, monitoring, and modifying feature flags, reducing the likelihood of errors that could lead to outages.
- Real-time Monitoring: LaunchDarkly and similar tools offer real-time monitoring capabilities, allowing companies to track the performance of feature flags and quickly identify any anomalies or issues that may be causing disruptions. This proactive monitoring helps organizations address potential outages before they escalate.
- Feature Toggling: Feature flag tools enable feature toggling, which allows developers to turn features on or off without requiring code deployments. This capability is particularly useful during outages, as it provides a quick and efficient way to disable problematic features and restore service stability.
Coles, a prominent retail giant in Australia, leverages LaunchDarkly to promptly disable a feature when the application triggers issues, ensuring rapid problem resolution. This swift response capability has emerged as a critical scenario for Coles Digital, enabling them to uphold exceptional customer satisfaction levels despite encountering technical issues arise. Read more
Better Together – LaunchDarkly and Observability Tools
Observability tools (such as Datadog, Grafana, Elastic) are designed to provide insights into the internal state of a system by collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data from various sources. These tools facilitate the monitoring the performance, health, and behavior of applications and infrastructure. By leveraging observability tools, organizations can effectively detect and diagnose issues, optimize performance, and ensure the reliability of their systems.
Integrating observability tools with LaunchDarkly, a feature management platform, offers several benefits:
- Enhanced Visibility: By combining feature flag data from LaunchDarkly with performance metrics from observability tools, teams gain a clearer understanding of how feature releases impact system performance.
- Faster Issue Resolution: The integration allows for rapid identification and resolution of issues by correlating feature changes with performance anomalies. When issues arise, teams can quickly identify the root cause and implement corrective actions.
- Improved Decision-Making: Teams can make data-driven decisions about feature rollouts and rollbacks based on real-time performance data.
- Automated Responses: Observability tools provide continuous monitoring of application’s performance, allowing for the timely detection of anomalies, the integration with LaunchDarkly enables automated actions, such as rolling back features when anomalies are detected, reducing the need for manual intervention, maintain application stability and minimizes downtime.
Vsceptre and LaunchDarkly
Combining years of experiences on Observability, Vsceptre and LaunchDarkly collaborate to assist the enterprises in Hong Kong to enjoy the greater peace of mind with enhanced application reliability, minimize downtime and reduce risks associated with application releases. For further information, contact Vscetpre at charliemok@vsceptre.com.
