[Research Report] SIGQ Releases "2026 Survey on the Dependence of Incident Response on Individual Expertise"

SIGQ Inc. (pronounced "Sig-Q"; Headquartered in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture; CEO: Takaaki Kanetsuki), the developer of "Incident Lake," an agentic AI specialized in incident management, has released the results of its "2026 Survey on the Personalization of Incident Response," which surveyed 250 VPoEs, engineering managers, SRE leaders, and tech leads at SaaS and web product development companies.

Survey Summary

The key points regarding incident response highlighted by this survey are as follows:

・Regarding incident response, 72.0% of organizations reported that they “rely on one or two specific individuals.”Furthermore, 88.9% of those individuals stated that they “are at risk of leaving the company within the next one to two years, ” highlighting a threat to business continuity.

・The most common response regarding efforts to eliminate reliance on individual expertise was “We tried, but saw no improvement” (32.4%). This reveals that static measures, such as document standardization, alone do not lead to a fundamental solution.

・When asked about the most important approach to solving the problem, a majority (53.2%) cited “the use of technology.” The results show that expectations for “knowledge sharing” and “AI and automation” far exceed those for human-centered measures.

・69.6% of respondents said they were “open to” adopting specialized tools or platforms. This confirms a strong need for systems that formalize tacit knowledge and reduce reliance on individual judgment.

Background of the Survey

With the widespread adoption of SaaS and cloud services, the complexity of the systems operated by companies is increasing year by year. The ability to respond quickly to outages and incidents is a critical business challenge that determines service reliability and directly impacts business continuity.

On the other hand, on the ground, a culture of reliance on specific individuals—where operations grind to a halt without certain people—has become the norm. Knowledge is concentrated in the hands of specific engineers or managers, and the uneven distribution of the workload for late-night and holiday shifts leads to excessive burnout, often resulting in the departure of top talent.

SIGQ conducted this survey to quantitatively assess the extent to which this "reliance on individual expertise in incident response" has become widespread and the impact it is having on companies.

Survey Highlights

1. 70% of organizations feel that their operations are overly reliant on specific individuals, and 90% recognize the risk of losing key personnel

When asked, “Do you feel that incident response is concentrated in or dependent on just one or two specific individuals?” 72.0% responded that they were “dependent” (31.2% said “highly dependent” and 40.8% said “somewhat dependent”).

Furthermore, when respondents who indicated they were dependent on a particular employee were asked about the likelihood of that employee resigning, changing jobs, or being transferred within the next one to two years, 88.9% answered that it was “likely.” Of those, 35.56% cited specific evidence, such as signs that the employee was job hunting. This revealed a situation akin to a ticking time bomb, where the company’s ability to handle disruptions could collapse at any moment.

2. The tasks most heavily reliant on individual expertise are "log analysis" (56.1%) and "triage decisions" (51.7%)

The most common specific tasks performed by these key personnel were “investigating the causes of outages and analyzing logs (56.11%),” followed by “receiving initial alerts and making triage decisions (51.67%).” It became clear that these areas require split-second decisions based on past experience and intuition, making them difficult to standardize and leading to a growing reliance on individual expertise.

3. The causes are a three-way battle between "lack of time," "failure to share knowledge," and "skill gaps"

The top three causes of reliance on specific individuals were “lack of time for rotation or training (43.6%),” “knowledge not being documented or shared (40.0%),” and “the skills of certain individuals are so outstanding that others cannot keep up (37.6%).” Because knowledge is not shared, the organization relies on specific individuals; those individuals become overwhelmed and unable to train others, creating a vicious cycle that further exacerbates this reliance.

4. “We created the documentation, but no one reads it”—This problem cannot be solved by static maintenance alone

Regarding efforts to eliminate reliance on specific individuals, the most common response was “We tried this before, but it didn’t improve the situation much (32.4%)” (“We have largely eliminated this issue” accounted for only 16.8%).

Although organizations are focusing on "documenting knowledge"—such as maintaining wikis and creating procedure manuals—this alone is not enough to ensure that the information is actually utilized, and the underlying issues remain unresolved. Meanwhile, only 12.63% of organizations are working on "automation and efficiency improvements using AI and tools," indicating that technology-driven solutions are still in their early stages.

5. The biggest obstacle for organizations unable to take action is “a lack of interest from management” (32%)

The primary reason cited by organizations that have not yet addressed the issue of personalization (n=50) was that “it is not a priority for the organization (low interest from supervisors and management)” (32%).

Risks associated with neglecting these issues include "overwork, burnout, and turnover among specific engineers (39.6%)" and "inconsistencies in response quality and speed (38.4%)"; the gap between the sense of urgency on the front lines and management’s perception of the situation remains a challenge.

6. 53.2% prioritize technology-based solutions above all else, and 69.6% are open to adopting new tools

When asked what is most important for eliminating reliance on individual expertise, a majority of respondents cited “establishing a system to document and share incident response knowledge (28.0%)” and “reducing reliance on individual judgment by leveraging AI and automation tools (25.2%).”

Regarding dedicated tools and platforms, 69.6% of respondents said they were “open to adopting them,” confirming a strong need for systematic solutions.

Download the Survey Report (11 questions total)

You can download the full report, which contains detailed results from this survey (including aggregated data, graphs, and analysis for all 11 questions), for free below.

Download URL: https://incidentlake.com/incident-management-report-202604

Survey Overview

Survey Title: Survey on the Reliance on Individual Expertise in Incident Response 2026

Survey Method: Freeasy Online Survey

Survey Participants: SRE Leaders, EMs, VPoEs, and Tech Leads involved in system failure (incident) response

Number of valid responses: n=250

Number of survey questions: 11 in total (current state of personalization, causes, risks, status of countermeasures, and willingness to adopt tools)

Survey Period: Conducted in March 2026

Comment from Representative Director Takaaki Kanetsuki

This survey has once again highlighted that the reliance on individual expertise in incident response is not merely an "issue to be addressed at some point in the future," but rather a "serious, ongoing management challenge" directly linked to the risk of losing top talent.

In the field, many organizations are taking the first steps toward document management and other initiatives. However, the reality is that when an incident actually occurs, they face the challenge of the documents they’ve created going unused. What is needed now is not merely static document management. It is a system of “knowledge that is actually used”—one in which AI structures the tacit knowledge of experts to support proactive decision-making in times of crisis.

The fact that "the risk of key personnel leaving the company is 88.9%" indicates that this is no longer a problem that can be solved through on-site efforts alone. I am convinced that this is an issue that management must address with a sense of urgency as a form of "knowledge insurance" to ensure business continuity. Through Incident Lake, we are committed to helping you find a fundamental solution to this challenge.

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[Research Report] SIGQ Releases "2026 Survey on the Dependence of Incident Response on Individual Expertise"