The AWS Outage That Shook the Internet
On October 20, 2025, a major outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) brought much of the internet to a halt. Snapchat, Reddit, Coinbase, Robinhood, Signal, and even Amazon’s own services like Prime Video and Ring doorbells were knocked offline. According to reports, over 64 AWS services were affected, and more than 4 million users experienced disruption. What started at 3:11 a.m. ET didn’t see signs of recovery until after noon. And even then, it was tentative connectivity at best.
It wasn’t just a blip — it was one of the largest digital disruptions in recent memory. And it exposed something many businesses hadn’t considered closely enough: their vulnerability.
The Problem Isn’t the Cloud – It’s How You’re Using It
Let’s be clear: the cloud isn’t the problem. It’s the over-dependence on a single global provider that creates risk.
Amazon’s AWS (like Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure) operates massive, shared environments where even a small internal glitch can cascade into a global disruption. The issue on that occurred October 20th? First it was a database service connection, and then a series of other small errors as one fix uncovered another issue. One missed beat, and thousands of businesses were left scrambling.
What This Means for Those Relying on Big-Box Cloud Providers
This outage affected business of every size, and if you’re an SMB relying on shared cloud infrastructure, you’re subject to the same ripple effect. The question isn’t whether AWS is secure or capable — it is. The question is whether your specific business needs are being prioritized in a world where millions of other tenants share the same infrastructure.
If your business depends on anytime access to your ERP system — processing payroll, approving POs, tracking inventory, serving clients — an unexpected outage will do more than simply delay work. An outage like this potentially damages your credibility, it disrupts operations, and puts financial gains at risk.
This is Why Our Sage 100 Cloud Hosting Is Different
If you’re using Sage 100 you have options. Bennett/Porter is one a few hosting providers in the USA who are certified to offer private, dedicated Sage 100 Cloud Hosting environments. That means the next time there is an outage (which is inevitable) your business is poised to keep running where others will be out of luck. Unlike the big-box cloud providers, our hosting puts your business first, with safeguards that ensure your operations don’t go down when someone else’s do.
Here’s how we mitigate risk:
- Redundant Systems – Power, networking, and storage redundancy are built in, reducing single points of failure.
- Human Support – We don’t hide behind dashboards. You get real people, in your time zone, who know your configuration and respond fast.
- 24/7 Monitoring – Round-the-clock system monitoring means we spot issues before they become outages.
- Backups & Disaster Recovery – With daily backups and disaster recovery protocols in place, even worst-case scenarios won’t derail your business.
Ready to Stay Online – No Matter What?
If AWS went down tomorrow, would your business be impacted? If the answer is yes — it’s time to rethink what “cloud” means for you.
Let’s make sure your Sage 100 system is always available, always secure, and always supported — even when the rest of the internet has gone dark.
Schedule Your Free Hosting Assessment and discover how we help SMBs weather outages, evolve faster, and work from anywhere — with confidence.
