• The president of CrowdStrike just received an award for “biggest failure” following a massive IT outage.

• The outage, caused by a faulty software update, disrupted thousands of Microsoft systems.

• Experts praised the company’s transparency and accountability and viewed it as a PR success.

The president of CrowdStrike himself just received an award for “biggest failure” following the company’s massive IT outage.

The cybersecurity company’s president, Michael Sentonas, said he wanted to accept the award in person because the company wanted to admit its mistake.

“I want every CrowdStriker that comes to work to see this. Because you know, our goal is to protect people and we got that wrong and I want to make sure everyone understands that this can’t happen,” Sentonas said as he accepted the trophy.

The award was presented Saturday night at the Pwnies, an annual awards ceremony for cybersecurity professionals.

The ignominious award follows an outage last month in which CrowdStrike disrupted business operations worldwide after a defect in a software update from the cybersecurity company caused many thousands of Microsoft computer systems to shut down.

Sentonas’ short speech drew applause and laughter from the audience, and experts told Business Insider that it was the right decision to accept the award with dignity.

A crisis communications expert said that by appearing in person, the company signaled its continued commitment to transparency and accountability.

“Sentonas’ decision to accept the award in person is a PR success and a masterpiece of crisis management,” said Jeremy Foo, CEO of PR firm Elliot & Co.

“What might have been remembered as a PR nightmare is now being told in the right narrative,” he said.

The award shows “that even tech giants are not immune to missteps and that you can earn brand love if you approach them with modesty and integrity and the right pinch of humor.”

Admitting a mistake is usually the first step in dealing with a crisis. This admission should convey authentic remorse for your actions to those affected, says Nathan Miller, a Los Angeles-based communications strategist.

The humor of the moment also served as an opportunity to illustrate how seriously CrowdStrike takes the mistake that was made, Miller said.

While the awards ceremony may temporarily boost the company’s image, CrowdStrike’s achievements will be remembered by customers for the long term.

“Customers and partners, who are CrowdStrike’s key stakeholders, want to see that the outage is taken seriously,” Foo said. “The key here is consistency.”

Read the original article on Business Insider