Looking Ahead: 2026’s Biggest Outage Risks

Visibility from diverse networks can help uncover blind spots to detect regional issues and invisible failures impacting end users. In this episode, you’ll hear first-hand insights on the operational challenges and technical strategies involved in building, validating, and expanding a global monitoring infrastructure. ——— CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 03:21 Why Multi-location Monitoring Matters06:48 Agent Management and Operational Challenges14:16 Debugging Methodologies and Validation Processes19:07 Getting the Most from Vendor Collaboration24:16 Internet Misconceptions and Considerations25:22 Notable Operational Outcomes——— For additional insights, check out the links below:Cloud Agents: The Big Picture To Getting the Best Picture: https://www.thousandeyes.com/blog/cloud-agents-big-picture-best-picture?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q3_internetreport_q3fy26ep132_podcast The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q3_internetreport_q3fy26ep132_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theinternetreport_official

Digital information is constantly in motion, crossing borders and jurisdictions. Learn about the current dynamics around data sovereignty and the importance of understanding the path your data takes. CHAPTERS00:00 Intro 03:38 Data in Flight 06:52 Consideration Factors for Data Paths 10:17 Failover Considerations 12:13 On Encryption and Quantum Computing 13:57 How AI Adds Complexity to Data Sovereignty 16:17 Key Takeaways For additional insights, check out The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q3_internetreport_q3fy26ep131_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or, follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from recent weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCewXUwLMfn7Y69C6vGRVwyw

Join us for a look ahead at some of the emerging outage trends for ITOps teams to keep in mind for 2026 and beyond. ——— CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 02:30 Monitoring for Component and Interaction Health05:14 The Rising Scope of Automation07:20 Real-World Scenarios 09:05 Observability Challenges11:05 Getting Ahead of Interaction Failures13:24 Outage Trends: By the Numbers——— For additional insights, check out The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q2_internetreport_q2fy26ep130_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from recent weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCewXUwLMfn7Y69C6vGRVwyw

Join us for a recap of some of 2025’s most notable Internet outages and incidents, with key learnings for ITOps teams to take into 2026. ——— CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 03:16 An Important Nuance05:16 Global Impacts07:44 Architecture and Failure Modes10:05 When DNS Is The Culprit13:05 The Importance of Looking at Combined Signals15:54 On Configuration Change Issues19:23 Key Takeaways ——— For additional insights, check out The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q2_internetreport_q2fy26ep129_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCewXUwLMfn7Y69C6vGRVwyw

Dig into recent outages at Cloudflare and Venmo, and the growing challenge of maintaining reliability and resilience in a world of increasingly interdependent Internet infrastructure. ——— CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:50 Cloudflare Outage 06:54 Venmo Outage 12:01 The Challenge of Layered Dependencies 13:36 Outage Trends: By the Numbers 15:28 Get in Touch ——— For additional insights, check out The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q2_internetreport_q2fy26ep5_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report

Tune in for a deep dive into the November 18 Cloudflare outage that impacted multiple services including X, OpenAI, and Anthropic—and explore key takeaways for ITOps teams. For insights on the other recent outage that Cloudflare experienced on December 5, see this blog post: https://www.thousandeyes.com/blog/cloudflare-outage-analysis-december-5-2025 ——— CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:55 The Nov. 18 Cloudflare Outage 02:34 Configuration Changes & Outages 03:45 Diagnosing the Fault Domain 05:47 Why Outage Recovery Can Take Time 10:43 Are Cloud Outages Increasing? 12:09 ITOps Best Practices 14:01 Outage Trends: By the Numbers 15:35 Get in Touch ——— Explore the Cloudflare outage further in the ThousandEyes platform (no login required): https://ahhplivtvmhdmbduwcuonefullpkkohp.share.thousandeyes.com/ 
 For additional insights, check out The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q2_internetreport_q2fy26ep4_podcast ——— Want to get in touch? If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes ——— ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why.  Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue? Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more. Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform: - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773 - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report 

Get an inside perspective on how autonomous AI agents are reshaping the Internet, and what that means for the future of data, resilience, and digital innovation.    We’ll chat about the new requirements for agentic AI success that call for a significant shift in priorities for NetOps teams.    CHAPTERS  00:00 Intro  00:56 About Agentic AI  02:41 Data Quality Matters  10:17 Service Resilience  10:06 End-to-end Capacity Planning  14:22 NetOps Best Practices  15:13 Get in Touch    ———    For more insights, check out the links below:    [PODCAST] Beyond "Break-Fix": Assuring Performance in the AI Era: https://www.thousandeyes.com/blog/internet-report-assuring-performance-ai-era?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q2_internetreport_q2fy26ep3_podcast    [EBOOK] Delivering Assurance at the Speed of AI: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/delivering-assurance-at-the-speed-of-ai-ebook?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q2_internetreport_q2fy26ep3_podcast    ———    Want to get in touch?    If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes    ———    ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORT  This is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why.     Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue?    Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more.    Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform:    - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526    - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773    - SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report

The demands of AI workloads are reshaping Internet infrastructure, giving rise to a more distributed model and resulting in an increasingly complex service delivery chain for NetOps teams to manage.Tune in to the full episode to learn more or use the chapters below to skip to the sections that you find most interesting.CHAPTERS00:00 Intro00:53 How Internet Infrastructure Is Changing02:24 Converting Legacy Central Offices & Telephone Exchanges06:46 Neoclouds10:06 Hyperscalers & a More Distributed Model12:11 NetOps Considerations13:26 Key Takeaways14:54 Get in Touch———For more insights, check out the links below:[PODCAST] Beyond "Break-Fix": Assuring Performance in the AI Era: https://www.thousandeyes.com/blog/internet-report-assuring-performance-ai-era?utm_source=wisita&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q2fy26ep2_podcast[EBOOK] Delivering Assurance at the Speed of AI: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/delivering-assurance-at-the-speed-of-ai-ebook?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q2fy26ep2_podcast———Want to get in touch?If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes———ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORTThis is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue?Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more.Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform:- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report

During complex infrastructure outages, an initial issue can often have a ripple effect, creating a web of problems to resolve. Explore how this phenomenon appeared to play out during the October 20 AWS outage and also unpack other recent outage events.———CHAPTERS00:00 Intro00:58 AWS Outage05:24 Microsoft Azure Front Door Outage08:00 Microsoft-AT&T Service Disruption09:34 YouTube Outage10:54 Vodafone Outage13:16 Outage Trends: By the Numbers14:26 Get in Touch———Explore these outages and service disruptions further further in the ThousandEyes platform (no login required): - AWS Outage: https://avzvjfvrejipghihlhmikprnziucvlvt.share.thousandeyes.com- Microsoft Azure Front Door Outage: https://alnwdjfechagkzsgzjwqidqytxhwfitz.share.thousandeyes.com- Microsoft-AT&T Service Disruption: https://aivduheuiilcfabsoendfnbxnwtprjdr.share.thousandeyes.comFor additional insights, check out the links below:- The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q2fy26ep1_podcast- The Guide to Next-generation Assurance: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/guide-to-next-generation-assurance-ebook?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q2fy26ep1_podcast———Want to get in touch?If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes———ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORTThis is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue?Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more.Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform:- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report

Backend-related outages were somewhat of a theme during the first half of 2025 and this trend seems to be continuing.In recent weeks, we’ve seen several service disruptions that appeared connected to backend issues, affecting organizations including a social media platform, an Australian bank, and a major airline. These incidents offer valuable insights into the typical characteristics of backend outages and strategies for spotting them.Tune in now to hear more about these events and the distinct anatomy of a backend outage.———CHAPTERS00:00 Intro01:01 About Backend Outages04:18 Anthropic’s Claude Outage08:44 Service Disruption12:54 Alaska Airlines Outage14:17 Commonwealth Bank Outage15:42 Gong Service Disruption17:25 Outage Trends: By the Numbers19:43 Get in Touch———Explore Anthropic’s Claude outage and the Alaska Airlines outage further in the ThousandEyes platform (no login required): - Claude: https://acshghvfamioplwqigifrycvlsqesoxb.share.thousandeyes.com- Alaska Airlines: https://annocixygjjriicwjupcporbjqblgkym.share.thousandeyes.com/For additional insights, check out the links below:- The Internet Outage Survival Kit: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/the-internet-outage-survival-kit?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q1fy26ep6_podcast- The Guide to Next-generation Assurance: https://www.thousandeyes.com/resources/guide-to-next-generation-assurance-ebook?utm_source=wistia&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=fy26q1_internetreport_q1fy26ep6_podcast———Want to get in touch?If you have questions, feedback, or guests you would like to see featured on the show, send us a note at [email protected]. Or follow us on LinkedIn or X: @thousandeyes———ABOUT THE INTERNET REPORTThis is The Internet Report, a podcast uncovering what’s working and what’s breaking on the Internet—and why. Tune in to hear ThousandEyes’ Internet experts dig into some of the most interesting outage events from the past couple weeks, discussing what went awry—was it the Internet, or an application issue?Plus, learn about the latest trends in ISP outages, cloud network outages, collaboration network outages, and more.Catch all the episodes on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform:- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-internet-report/id1506984526- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ADFvqAtgsbYwk4JiZFqHQ?si=00e9c4b53aff4d08&nd=1&dlsi=eab65c9ea39d4773- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ciscopodcastnetwork/sets/the-internet-report