PHL firms told to brace for global tech failures

By Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter

PHILIPPINE ORGANIZATIONS should strengthen their information technology (IT) systems and prepare contingency plans as failures in global digital services this year could disrupt daily operations and revenue, analysts said.

Failures affecting major tech providers pose economic and social risks to the Philippines because many businesses rely heavily on online platforms and mobile-based systems, Nicola Gerber, vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Fastly, told BusinessWorld.

Instead of assuming “zero failure,” organizations should expect the possibility of tech disruptions and design their IT systems for “recovery and containment,” she said in an e-mailed reply to questions.

Ms. Gerber said resilience should be treated as a business priority rather than a purely technical issue, warning that service interruptions abroad could quickly cascade into local problems for Philippine companies.

Several large technology providers, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Cloudflare experienced service failures in 2025 that affected airlines, banks, online retailers and digital platforms worldwide.

Such incidents could be costly for Philippine companies, Ms. Gerber said. Banks, telecommunication companies, logistics providers and online sellers can lose millions of pesos per hour when systems stop working, while payment delays can affect sales, payroll processing and customer transactions.

“All this reduces productivity and ultimately impacts branding and breaks customer trust,” Ms. Gerber said.

Ronald B. Gustilo, national campaigner for Digital Pinoys, said many local organizations are too dependent on single service providers, increasing their exposure when global systems fail.

“Organizations should not fully rely on the availability of cloud services,” he said in a Viber message. “They should consider investing in multi-cloud or hybrid services, build data redundancy and regularly test failover and recovery plans to ensure operations can continue even during widespread disruptions.”

The Philippines’ cloud and software-as-a-service market was valued at $3.2 billion (P190 billion) in 2024, driven by digital adoption, e-commerce growth and remote work, according to Ken Research.

Mr. Gustilo said companies should strengthen response procedures, clarify who makes decisions during system failures and run regular simulations to test readiness.

Reviewing contracts with tech providers and training staff to respond quickly are just as important, he added.

US-based technology service provider DXC Technology said it is helping Philippine clients prepare for system failures linked to global providers.

Some incidents are beyond a company’s control because they originate overseas, DXC Philippines site leader Malou Ocampo-Quiambao told BusinessWorld. What matters is being ready to respond quickly so the impact on operations and customers is limited, she added.