On October 20, a major internet service called Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced a massive failure that knocked thousands of companies offline. Websites and apps went dark all across the world, from banking apps to social media to gaming platforms.

For about 15 hours, millions of people couldn't access services they rely on every day.​

Here's the key point:

AIBD.org kept running smoothly while this was happening. Our members could submit support requests, access learning materials, and reach out to us without any disruption. This is exactly what we designed our systems to do.

What Actually Happened

Think of AWS like a giant shared building where thousands of businesses rent office space. On October 20, there was a failure in one critical part of that building (a "database service") and it affected nearly everything connected to it. Even though AWS has multiple buildings in different locations, they were all connected to this one failing system, so when it went down, the ripple effects spread everywhere.​

The companies affected ranged from tiny startups to giant names like Snapchat, Fortnite, banks, credit card services, airlines, and government agencies. The impact was real: some companies estimate losing hundreds of millions of dollars in just a few hours of lost business.​

How AIBD Stayed Online

We want to be transparent with you: AIBD does use a hosting service to run our infrastructure. We're not completely independent from hosting providers. However, we made strategic choices about how we use that hosting that keep our systems running while others may go down.

Here's what makes the difference:

We use open source software, not proprietary tools. This is the key. When you build your systems on open source software, software where the code is transparent and community-reviewed, you avoid vendor lock-in.

Vendor lock-in is when you become so dependent on one company's special tools and services that switching away becomes expensive or impossible.​

Many companies that went down on October 20 had built their operations on AWS-specific services with proprietary tools and formats. When AWS failed, those tools failed with it, and switching to another provider became impossible. We didn't make that mistake.

Our choice to use cost-effective open source software means:

Less licensing fees. We're not paying hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for expensive proprietary software. Open source solutions are often free to use, which makes them dramatically more cost-effective. Enterprises save up to 60% by using open source instead of proprietary software.​

We can move if we need to. Because our support ticket system and learning management system run on open source software, we're not locked into one hosting provider. If our current hosting service ever experiences problems, we have the flexibility to move our systems elsewhere without expensive conversion costs or technical roadblocks.​

Transparent, reliable software. Open source software is reviewed by thousands of experts around the world. Security vulnerabilities are identified and fixed quickly because the code is open for inspection by the global community. When problems are discovered, the community works together to fix them, usually much faster than proprietary software vendors.​

Quality that improves over time. Open source software benefits from continuous improvements by a global community of developers who contribute because they care about making good tools. The software is actively maintained and enhanced, not abandoned when a vendor decides to move in a different direction.

I could actually run the entire AIBD.org website software from the server in my home office, if I had to.

What AWS's Outage Really Teaches Us

The October 20 outage wasn't just a technical failure, it was a wake-up call about concentration risk. When thousands of companies depend entirely on one company's infrastructure and proprietary services, a single failure becomes a global crisis.​​​

At AIBD, we learned from this: use hosting (because it's practical), but never surrender control by building on proprietary tools. By choosing open source software, we keep our independence and protect ourselves from the kind of lock-in that devastated companies on October 20.​

Our New Systems

Support Ticket System: Built on open source helpdesk software that allows us to manage member communications efficiently while maintaining complete control over our data and the ability to move our system if needed. Your support requests are handled securely and reliably.​

Learning Management System: Our educational programs and certification courses run through an open source platform. Whether you're accessing course materials, tracking your progress, or engaging with resources, everything operates on infrastructure we control and can protect.​

Cost Savings Pass to You: Because we use open source software instead of expensive proprietary systems, we avoid massive licensing costs. Those savings help us keep AIBD membership affordable and accessible to our community.​

The Bottom Line

While we use a hosting service like many organizations do, we're not trapped by proprietary vendor lock-in. We made smart choices about open source software and avoid building our operations on vendor-specific tools. This is why AIBD stayed online on October 20 when thousands of AWS-dependent companies went dark.

Your AIBD resources are here for you because we designed our infrastructure thoughtfully using reliable, cost-effective, transparent open source software that gives us flexibility and keeps us independent.

Always Online,
Garrett Mickley
Communications Director

P.S. If you haven't explored our new support ticket system or learning management system yet, we encourage you to try them. These tools represent our commitment to serving you with infrastructure built on solid principles.

Everything can be found in your Member Hub at AIBD.org/login.