Client Context

A global technology organisation experienced a critical service outage impacting multiple telecommunications links across the Middle East region. The incident affected 24 live connections simultaneously, disrupting business-critical services and triggering immediate escalation.

Given the scale and geographic complexity of the outage, rapid coordination across internal technical teams, international carriers, and customer stakeholders was essential.

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The Challenge

The organisation needed to:

• Restore all affected services within a strict 4-hour SLA

• Coordinate multiple technical teams and third-party carriers across regions

• Maintain clear, consistent communication with senior stakeholders

• Identify the root cause to prevent recurrence

• Strengthen incident response processes for future events

Failure to resolve the incident quickly would have resulted in extended downtime, contractual penalties, and reputational damage.

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ClearPath’s Approach

ClearPath led the incident response end-to-end, combining technical coordination, stakeholder management, and structured root cause analysis.

1. Major Incident Escalation & Control

• Immediately declared a Major Incident and consolidated all related tickets

• Established a single incident command structure to maintain visibility and control

• Coordinated real-time conference calls with internal engineers, international carriers, and customer representatives

2. Cross-Regional & Multilingual Coordination

• Worked directly with third-line IP and data engineers and the regional carrier

• Facilitated communication across regions and time zones to accelerate troubleshooting

• Ensured secure access to regional data centres to support diagnostics

3. Service Restoration

• Directed structured troubleshooting activities

• Prioritised restoration actions based on service criticality

• Maintained continuous progress tracking and stakeholder updates

All 24 connections were fully restored within the SLA window, with final services recovered by early morning.

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Root Cause Analysis & Prevention

Following restoration, ClearPath led a formal Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to ensure the issue would not recur.

1. RCA Methodology

• Analysed network events, system logs, and incident timelines

• Applied structured RCA techniques to trace the failure to its source

• Mapped incident progression visually to support stakeholder understanding

2. Root Cause Identified

• A software defect within regional routing infrastructure was identified as the primary cause of the outage

3. Process Improvement

• Defined corrective and preventative actions

• Documented a revised Major Incident Management process

• Introduced clearer escalation flows, communication standards, and response checklists

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Results Achieved

• 100% service restoration within SLA

• 24 connections recovered during a single coordinated response

• Improved stakeholder confidence through clear communication and leadership

• A new Major Incident framework adopted for future incidents

• Enhanced preparedness and response capability across teams

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Impact

This engagement demonstrated the value of structured incident leadership and post-incident learning. By combining rapid response with disciplined root cause analysis, the organisation not only resolved the immediate crisis but strengthened its long-term operational resilience.

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Key Takeaway

Major incidents should not only be resolved quickly — they should be used to strengthen systems, processes, and future readiness.