Service-Based vs. Team-Based Approach: Which Is Better?

PagerDuty's approach to incident response emphasizes a shift from a team-based setup to a service-based setup, which focuses on aligning incident management processes with the services that comprise a business. This strategy is designed to provide better visibility into service health and trends and to offer flexibility as teams and organizational structures change. By identifying top-level business services and the technical services supporting them, organizations can streamline communication, reduce downtime, and enhance the effectiveness of incident management. A services-first approach bridges technical and business services, providing context on the importance of each service and facilitating quicker, more coordinated responses to incidents. While initially more challenging to set up than a team-based approach, a service-oriented configuration ultimately supports scalability, clearer communication, and a better understanding of business impact, helping organizations prioritize responses and continuously improve their processes.