What are runbooks and how do they fit into the incident management picture?

TL;DR:

Runbooks are comprehensive documents that provide step-by-step procedures for managing and resolving incidents in an IT environment.
They streamline processes, reduce human errors, and improve efficiency in incident response efforts.
Runbooks can be general or specialized, catering to different levels of complexity and specificity within an organization.
Creating a runbook involves careful planning, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Runbooks can complement playbooks, which provide high-level guidance on a comprehensive incident response strategy.

Sometimes guides can come in handy.

Think about it: it’s likely that, during a typical work week, there are tasks that you manage that don’t vary much from week to week. You’ve been doing them for months now, and you feel like you can function pretty much on autopilot.

But are you sure that you’re going through these processes as efficiently as possible? I mean, you have been doing them for a while, right? And you are following these processes correctly…right?

Sometimes the answer to both of these questions is no, and this is exactly what runbooks are here to solve for.

Runbooks can serve as essential guides for navigating the complexities of incident management.

By streamlining processes and providing clear instructions, they empower teams to tackle challenges head-on with confidence and efficiency, whether they’re doing them for the first, or hundredth time.

But first things first: exactly what are runbooks, and how can they help a company manage incident response? Let’s dive right in.

What is a runbook?

An incident response runbook is a comprehensive, step-by-step document that outlines procedures to manage and resolve incidents.

It provides a reliable framework for teams to follow when troubleshooting issues or performing routine tasks. By consolidating best practices, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and detailed instructions into one accessible resource, runbooks significantly improve the efficiency of incident response efforts while reducing potential human errors.

Again, think of these as a guide to help you navigate through incident response. Whether you’re a first-time responder, or just need a refresher on best practices.

The result is quicker resolution times, better team coordination during high-pressure situations, and more consistent outcomes across the board in handling various scenarios. Runbooks are typically developed, maintained, and utilized by various stakeholders.

These include IT administrators, incident response teams, support personnel, and even management—ensuring effective collaboration across the organization for a swift resolution of incidents.

How runbooks work in incident management

Runbooks serve as an invaluable tool in incident management by addressing various scenarios through clear and actionable guidance.

For example, imagine an e-commerce website experiencing sudden downtime due to server issues. A well-documented runbook would outline specific steps for identifying the contributing factors, initiating server recovery procedures, monitoring progress, and ultimately restoring services with minimal disruption.

Another use case involves cybersecurity threats such as ransomware attacks or data breaches. In this situation, runbooks help teams respond by detailing actions like isolating affected systems from networks—all while maintaining good communication among stakeholders.

Key insights regarding how runbooks operate in incident management include:

Standardization: By establishing consistent methodologies across different scenarios and environments (e.g., cloud-based infrastructure), organizations can reduce response time variability.
Automation: Integrating automation tools within your runbook accelerates resolutions while minimizing human error risks—for example using scripts that auto-apply patches during vulnerability remediation.
From reactive to proactive stance: Runbooks not only address active incidents but also offer preventative measures through regular system health checks—enhancing overall resilience against potential future disruptions.

Ultimately, run books play a pivotal role in enhancing incident preparedness, building self-sufficiency among team members, and fostering continuous improvement through structured learning from past events.

The main types of runbooks

Runbooks can be broadly classified into two categories that cater to different levels of complexity and specificity within an organization.

General runbooks

General runbooks encompass a broad range of scenarios.

These documents cover standard procedures, such as system monitoring, backups or restores, and basic troubleshooting guidelines for hardware or software issues. They provide essential information on universal concerns like network connectivity, data storage management, or user access controls.

General runbooks help teams address routine problems while maintaining operational efficiency.

Specialized runbooks

Specialized runbooks target specific technologies, applications, or organizational processes that require dedicated expertise to resolve incidents effectively.

For example, database management systems might have tailored recovery strategies during outages. By catering exclusively to niche domains like cloud infrastructure services, business-critical applications, or regulatory compliance requirements, specialized runbooks empower organizations with enhanced situational awareness and precise guidance during complex situations.

Effective runbooks are actionable, accessible, accurate, authoritative, and adaptable

Runbooks can be a great tool to use to ensure that your incident response processes are always being followed as intended. But to do this, they should follow a few best practices:

Firstly, an effective runbook is actionable, meaning it provides clear instructions on what needs to be done during an incident. It serves as a step-by-step guide for team members, ensuring that they know exactly how to respond and resolve the issue at hand.
Secondly, accessibility is crucial for a runbook to be effective. Team members need to know where to find the runbook easily. This ensures that they can quickly access the necessary information during an incident, minimizing downtime and maximizing efficiency.
Accuracy is another important attribute of an effective runbook. It should contain up-to-date and error-free information. Outdated or incorrect information can lead to confusion and delays in resolving incidents. Regular updates and reviews are necessary to maintain the accuracy of the runbook.
Next, an effective runbook should be authoritative. This means that only one runbook should be created for a single IT process. Having multiple versions or conflicting information can cause confusion and hinder the incident resolution process.
Lastly, adaptability is a key attribute of an effective runbook. It should be easy to modify and update to prevent future redundancy. As technology and systems evolve, the runbook needs to be flexible enough to accommodate changes and improvements.

How to plan and create a runbook for your company

Creating a robust runbook for your organization involves careful planning, collaboration among stakeholders, and continuous improvement. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you develop an effective runbook:

Look for opportunities to build runbooks in your post-incident process: Sometimes it’s best to look to past experiences for inspiration. When it comes to runbooks, this is a good place to start. Take a look back at incidents that you’ve managed recently and document your process (assuming the process for resolving that incident is one you’d like to replicate). This way, if you tackle the same issue again, you know exactly how to resolve it.
Identify needs and stakeholders: Assess the specific requirements of various teams within the organization, e.g. IT administrators, support personnel, or cybersecurity experts. Engage with key decision-makers from each area and gather input on their unique challenges.
Process mapping and documentation: Once you've identified critical incident scenarios that require attention in your business environment (think server outages or data breaches) it's essential to map out detailed workflows outlining each response phase (i.e. detection, containment, eradication, recovery). Ensure these workflows include assigned roles/responsibilities during incidents so team members know exactly what is expected of them.
Resource allocation: Determine which tools or resources are necessary for managing different types of incidents. For instance, automated monitoring systems might be crucial in detecting abnormal activities while vulnerability scanners can aid proactive security measures. Furthermore, consider allocating a portion of your budget towards employee training sessions on using these tools effectively.
Version control: Establish version control practices like tracking changes made over time (e.g. using Git repositories) or maintaining archives with previous iterations. This approach ensures all updates remain organized within the document itself rather than scattered across multiple files or emails.
Automate where possible: Look at ways automation can be incorporated into response processes. Try to build bespoke runbooks, whether it’s for triggering alerts based on predefined thresholds, auto-scaling cloud resources during peak loads, or automating patch deployments.
Continuous improvement through feedback loops: Regularly review performance metrics after resolving incidents. Identify areas where improvements could be made. For example:
- Evaluate if standard operating procedures were followed correctly
- Assess whether any new insights were gained about system vulnerabilities
- Determine if any new tools or techniques could have been used to expedite resolution
- Incorporate useful feedback into your runbooks, and share learnings with relevant stakeholders

Remember that maintaining and updating your runbook is an ongoing process. Constantly refine it based on evolving technologies, changing business requirements, and lessons learned from past incidents.

Runbook vs. playbook—what's the difference?

Now, you might be a bit confused: what are runbooks if there are also playbooks in incident management? While often used interchangeably, the difference between runbook and playbook lies in their focus.That said, the lines between these two can often be a bit blurry.

A runbook focuses on providing step-by-step procedures for resolving specific incidents in IT environments — such as addressing server issues or mitigating security vulnerabilities.

On the other hand, a playbook is a broader strategic document that outlines an organization's overall approach to handling various situations: including crisis communications protocols or disaster recovery planning. For instance, during ransomware attacks: the runbook details technical steps for containment and eradication; the playbook might cover coordinating with law enforcement agencies and crafting public statements.

Feature	Runbook	Playbook
Scope	Specific type of incident	Overall incident response strategy
Content	Detailed steps for responding to an incident	High-level overview of the incident response process
Audience	Incident response team	Incident response team, management, and other stakeholders

Runbooks enable teams to execute detailed operational tasks effectively, whereas playbooks provide high-level guidance on managing events from a holistic standpoint. To maximize efficiency during incident response efforts, it's essential that organizations maintain both well-documented runbooks (for tactical execution) and comprehensive playbooks (for strategic direction).

Why is it important to keep an updated runbook on hand?

Keeping updated incident response runbooks is common sense, really. It’s like keeping your systems updated and patched:

It ensures faster response times by providing teams with the most up-to-date procedures and best practices.
It fosters a clearer understanding of roles and responsibilities during incidents, minimizing confusion among team members.
It reduces knowledge silos by incorporating lessons learned from previous events, promoting continuous improvement in incident-handling capabilities.

Ultimately, maintaining an accurate and current runbook helps organizations proactively address potential disruptions while enhancing their overall resilience against unforeseen challenges that may arise in today's dynamic IT landscape.

Use runbooks? You'll love incident.io Workflows

At this point you’re probably wondering how incident.io fits into this picture.

Two ways: Workflows and nudges

Let’s start with Workflows. With this customer-favorite feature, which was completely overhauled in August 2023, incident responders can create collections of triggers to automate certain actions in the response process. For example, you can create a trigger that alerts your C-suite when an incident of critical severity gets declared. Or a trigger that automatically inserts a link to a runbook in your incident channel whenever a specific keyword or field is included.

With these Workflows, you can ensure that the most sensible processes are happening every single time.

Now let’s talk about nudges.

This useful feature allows you to create prompts that remind responders when they should be taking a specific action. For example, you can set up a nudge to prompt folks to create a post-mortem once an incident is resolved. Or remember to send an incident update every 30 minutes

This way, you can ensure that every incident follows a specific set of procedures.

Ready to see how Workflows and nudges can work like runbooks for your incident response? Book a demo today.