Incident Response for Marketing & Digital Agencies
Provides a structured approach to detecting, responding to, and recovering from operational incidents.
Includes provisions for Australian Consumer Law (ACL), Privacy Act compliance for customer data, and ACMA spam regulations.
Workflow Stages
Detection and Triage
Confirm the incident, assess severity, and classify it for appropriate response.
Inputs
- Alert or incident report
- Severity classification matrix
- Monitoring dashboard data
Outputs
- Confirmed incident record
- Severity level assigned
- Incident commander designated
Communication and Mobilization
Notify relevant stakeholders and assemble the response team based on incident severity and type.
Inputs
- Incident classification
- Escalation matrix
- Response team contact list
Outputs
- Stakeholders notified
- Response team assembled
- Communication channel established
Decision Points
- • Is customer communication needed?
- • Are external parties (vendors, regulators) affected?
Investigation and Containment
Investigate the root cause while implementing containment measures to limit the impact.
Inputs
- Incident details
- System logs and diagnostics
- Known issue database
Outputs
- Root cause identified or hypothesis formed
- Containment measures implemented
- Investigation notes documented
Resolution and Recovery
Implement the fix, restore normal operations, and verify the system is functioning correctly.
Inputs
- Root cause analysis
- Fix or workaround plan
- Recovery procedures
Outputs
- Fix implemented
- Services restored
- Verification testing completed
Decision Points
- • Is the fix permanent or a temporary workaround?
Post-Incident Review
Conduct a blameless post-mortem to analyze the incident and identify prevention measures.
Inputs
- Incident timeline
- Response team observations
- Post-mortem template
Outputs
- Post-incident report
- Action items for prevention
- Process improvement recommendations
Frequently Asked Questions
How are incident severity levels defined?
Severity is determined by business impact: Critical (widespread outage), High (significant degradation), Medium (limited impact), and Low (minimal impact with workaround available).
How soon after resolution is the post-mortem conducted?
Post-mortems are conducted within 3 business days of incident resolution while details are fresh. The focus is on learning and improvement, not blame.
Who communicates with customers during an incident?
The customer communication lead (typically from customer success or communications) handles all external updates, coordinating with the incident commander for accuracy.
Ready to implement this workflow in your business?
Our team can implement this workflow into your business operations with custom tools and training.