Thought Leadership
How to Prepare for Support Surges You Can’t Predict
Feb 9, 2026
Most organizations plan for known spikes - holidays, promotions, renewals. What’s harder are unplanned surges caused by outages, regulatory changes, recalls, or viral exposure.
Deloitte research shows that unplanned demand is one of the most disruptive forces in service operations, often causing cascading operational failures (Deloitte Global Operations Survey).
This blog explains how to evaluate readiness for the unexpected.
Common challenges explored:
No clear surge activation thresholds
Reliance on emergency overtime or short-term hiring
Inconsistent service quality during spikes
Supporting research:
Deloitte, Global Operations Survey
https://www.deloitte.com/global/en/our-thinking/insights/industry/operations.html
Recommended tool: Surge Readiness Checklist