Let’s look at five standout insights from this year’s research.
Resilience Isn’t What Teams Think It Is
Most respondents (about 90%) believe their organization is resilient. A third even describe themselves as “very resilient.” But the data doesn’t fully support that optimism. Fewer than half reported managing key challenges like AI integration, BYOD policies, or distributed workforces very effectively. The report puts it plainly: “Even though respondents believe they’re resilient, their management of pressing IT issues in practice suggests otherwise.” This disconnect between perception and reality is more than a confidence gap—it’s a strategic risk. When day-to-day execution doesn’t support your confidence, disruptions can catch you unprepared.
Inefficient Processes Are Holding Teams Back
The report identifies three building blocks of resilience: teams, tools, and workflows. Of these, workflows were called out most frequently—by over half of the respondents—as the top barrier to quick and effective incident response. The issue isn’t always the tools themselves—87% of respondents believe they already have the right tech stack in place. Rather, it’s how those tools are implemented and how teams use them. “People generally believe they have solved their tooling issues, yet they still experience pain,” says SolarWinds Senior Director of Product Marketing, RJ Gazarek. “It's often because they overlook the importance of workflows and the teams those tools support.” Without the right processes in place, even best-in-class tools can fall short.
Detection Is the Weakest Link
When asked about incident response, the majority of teams measuring mean time to detect, acknowledge, or resolve (MTTx) said that detection is 2.5 times more difficult than resolution. If you don’t detect an issue early, you lose the opportunity to mitigate it before it affects users. As the report states, “If a department has a detection issue, the rest of the steps don’t matter.” Teams that wait for customer complaints as their first signal of trouble are suffering from visibility issues. Investing in full-stack observability can help identify issues before they escalate into customer-impacting incidents.
Firefighting Drains Resources
Another key indicator of resilience is time allocation. Teams spending more than 50% of their time on critical issue resolution tend to have higher budgets for disruptions, report lower job satisfaction, and often feel understaffed. The report warns: “Dedicating that much time toward reacting to issues leaves little room for proactivity.” On the other hand, high-performing teams spend less than 25% of their time firefighting. This gives them space to focus on long-term improvements, proactive system health, and better customer experiences. In other words, resilience isn’t just about putting out fires. It’s about building a system where fewer fires start in the first place.
Systems Thinking Is the Answer
The report emphasizes the importance of systems thinking—viewing your organization not as a set of disconnected tools and teams, but as an interdependent system where processes, people, and platforms interact. “Operational resilience is accomplished by understanding the different parts of the business and how they interact across teams, workflows, and tools, while also driving a culture of intentional learning and adaptation,” the report explains.
To explore all the data, insights, and expert analysis, download the full report.
