The AWS Outage and What It Means for HealthTech Compliance

When AWS went offline last week, hundreds of platforms around the world were disrupted. The problem started in one of Amazon’s main regions and quickly spread, affecting more than 100 services before it was fixed. For most companies, it meant a few hours of downtime. For digital health providers, it was a reminder that cloud dependency isn’t just an IT issue. It’s a compliance, clinical, and reputational risk. It’s a signal for healthcare organisations to review their business continuity and recovery plans and make sure they can prove resilience if the same thing happens again.

Business Continuity is a Compliance Requirement

Frameworks like ISO 27001 and the NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) are built around one simple idea: service interruptions can’t put patients or data at risk. Under ISO 27001, organisations must show they can keep critical systems running during disruption. That means having plans, clear recovery objectives, and tested procedures to restore operations. The NHS DSPT goes further. It requires every health or care organisation to have a continuity plan, test it each year, and report the results. These aren’t optional steps; they’re checked by auditors and NHS buyers. If your company can’t evidence that it could keep running during an outage, you’re not compliant and that could jeopardise NHS contracts, tenders, or certifications.

Why This Matters in Digital Health

For most industries, downtime is an inconvenience. In healthcare, it can affect patient safety, delay treatment, or cause data integrity issues that have real-world consequences. Regulators know this. That’s why frameworks like DTAC and DCB0129 link cybersecurity and clinical safety. If a system failure could impact patient outcomes, suppliers must show how they will prevent, detect, and recover from such incidents.

Digital health systems are becoming more interconnected. APIs link clinical apps, wearable devices, and hospital systems. A single point of failure can now affect multiple organisations. If one service goes down, it can block data sharing or stop clinicians from accessing essential patient information. A solid continuity plan isn’t about ticking a box. It’s about protecting the people who rely on your technology and the clinical teams who depend on it to make informed decisions.

Cloud Responsibility Doesn’t End With Your Provider

Cloud infrastructure is resilient, but not infallible. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all operate under what’s known as a shared responsibility model. They secure the infrastructure of the cloud (things like data centres, power, and physical servers) but you’re responsible for what happens in the cloud. That includes your configurations, access controls, backup processes, and disaster recovery testing. You must define your Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and be able to prove you can meet them.

When a regional outage occurs, it’s your responsibility to show that critical operations can continue and patient data remains protected. Relying on a cloud provider doesn’t remove your compliance duties; it expands them. Many healthtech companies assume that because their infrastructure is hosted by a leading provider, continuity and disaster recovery are automatically covered. In reality, those measures must be implemented, tested, and evidenced by the customer. That’s why frameworks like ISO 27001 focus so heavily on preparedness and verification, not assumption.

When Continuity Fails, Trust Fails

Service continuity is a foundation of trust. Healthcare organisations, investors, and patients expect digital systems to be available, secure, and reliable. When systems fail, confidence erodes quickly and it can take years to rebuild.

Under the DCB0129 and DCB0160 clinical safety standards, suppliers and deployers must identify and control any clinical risk. Service outages are part of that assessment. If you can’t show that your product fails safely, or that recovery procedures are tested and documented, you risk breaching both your compliance frameworks and your NHS obligations.

The reputational impact can be equally damaging. A supplier who experiences repeated downtime or data loss can quickly be viewed as high-risk by NHS buyers. Investors may also question operational maturity and resilience. Over time, this can limit market opportunities or delay procurement approvals. Outages like AWS’s are a reminder that reliability and compliance are closely linked. One supports the other and losing either can harm your brand, your contracts, and ultimately, patient confidence.

Practical Steps for Digital Health Leaders

If you build or deliver digital health solutions, use the AWS outage as a prompt to strengthen your continuity and compliance posture.

1. Review your continuity plan

Check that it includes cloud failure scenarios, defines clear recovery targets, and covers communication plans for stakeholders and customers. Make sure it’s practical, not theoretical.

2. Test it regularly

The DSPT requires annual testing, but in fast-moving environments, more frequent reviews are best. Testing demonstrates operational readiness and strengthens ISO 27001 evidence. Keep records of test outcomes, lessons learned, and updates made.

3. Track supplier and system risks

List all critical suppliers, including cloud hosts, data processors, and third-party integrations, in your risk register. Regularly review their resilience, incident history, and contractual guarantees. This helps ensure you’re not blindsided by dependencies outside your control.

4. Keep documentation up to date

Auditors and NHS buyers will ask to see policies, testing logs, and reports. Make sure these are current and stored centrally. Outdated documents can undermine confidence and trigger further audit questions.

5. Make resilience part of your culture

Continuity planning shouldn’t sit in a single department. Everyone should understand what happens if systems fail and who is responsible for recovery. Embedding this mindset makes compliance and operational response much stronger.

How Naq Helps

At Naq, we help digital health companies stay audit-ready, resilient, and compliant. Our platform automates the policies, tasks, and evidence required across ISO 27001, DSPT, and DTAC. It centralises risk management, so dependencies like cloud providers and data processors are tracked, assessed, and documented. With built-in automation, teams maintain real-time visibility of their security and continuity posture without relying on consultants or juggling multiple tools.

Naq’s multi-framework approach means your compliance programme scales as your business grows. Whether you’re preparing for an NHS tender, expanding into private healthcare, or entering new markets, you’ll have one place to manage and evidence your readiness.

Our goal is simple: to make compliance continuous, transparent, and practical so you can focus on delivering technology that improves patient outcomes.

Turning Outages Into Learnings

Outages will happen, even the most advanced providers can fail. What matters is how prepared you are and how well you can prove it. Compliance frameworks aren’t just paperwork. They’re the foundation of patient safety, trust, and business continuity.

Book a demo to see how Naq helps digital health teams automate and evidence business continuity compliance.