Five "Why"s! And five may be too few. "Thorough" is in the eye of the reader. Only those who helped resolve the incident can judge whether the post-mortem is thorough.

After resolving a major network downtime incident, I ensure a thorough post-mortem analysis by following these steps: First, I meticulously document everything—the timeline, the impact, the mitigation steps I took, and the identified root cause, possibly using the 5 Whys technique. Next, I assemble a team representing all affected areas to gain diverse perspectives and ensure comprehensive understanding. We focus on the root cause, not just the symptoms, and brainstorm corrective actions to prevent recurrence. Finally, I prioritize continuous improvement by documenting lessons learned, adjusting processes, and sharing the post-mortem findings widely to promote organizational learning.

After addressing a significant network outage problem, begin by compiling all pertinent information, such as logs, alarms, and team interactions, in order to reconstruct the chronology of events and guarantee a comprehensive post-mortem study. Organize a structured conversation on the impact, root cause, and resolution process with important stakeholders, such as engineers, IT support, and management. Encourage candid criticism and spot procedural and technical flaws by taking a blameless stance. Put remedial measures into place, such as updated response procedures, better monitoring, or upgraded infrastructure. Lastly, to boost future incident response efforts and reinforce learning, share findings with the larger team.

Crisis averted! The network is back, but before we move on, let’s do a post-mortem to prevent a repeat disaster. Step 1: Rewind the Tape – When did the alarms go off? How long were we in panic mode? What finally fixed it? Step 2: What Broke? – Hardware failure? Bad update? Human error? Step 3: Who Felt the Pain? – Users? Services? Any financial loss? Step 4: Could We Have Caught It Sooner? – Were alerts useful? Was our response smooth? Step 5: Lock It Down – Fix weak spots, improve monitoring, and automate. Step 6: Document & Share – Lessons learned, no tech jargon. Step 7: Follow Up – Assign tasks, check progress, and celebrate with pizza!

Case study is the best approach to do a post -mortem analysis just right every detail down about what happened and what actions were taken step by step untill the full resolution this will help you to get insight of vulnerabilities in the deployed network and how to overcome them in future.