Related: How IT Departments Are Evolving in an Era of Remote Work Data shows that 16 percent of companies across the globe are now 100 percent remote, and since 99 percent of people would choose this option for the rest of their lives, even if it was just part-time, this percentage will likely rise in the coming years. This metric is critical when a team is working remotely. In contrast, availability is the probability that a system will work as required when required. IT professionals know that 100-percent uptime is a myth, which is why technology is so essential when aiming to deliver a level of service availability that ensures positive customer experiences. Regardless, consumer expectations remain high. More outages occurred for Google, Facebook, Instagram, Azure, Salesforce, and more in the years to follow. This example shows the conflict that exists between IT reality and consumer expectations. During this outage, service to Google applications, such as Google+ and Gmail, were down for 25-55 minutes, affecting approximately 10 percent of users.

The Great Google Outage of 2014 is an excellent example of how a 100-percent uptime is impossible. So yes, uptime can be an indicator of availability, but it is by no means a guarantee. However, it is not an indicator of what will happen in the future. When looking at a service-level agreement (SLA), guaranteed uptime is determined by past performance. However, uptime does not necessarily mean all services and applications are available and ready for use. So, uptime is how long a machine has been working and available, expressed as a percentage of time. This metric measures system, solution, or infrastructure reliability and most commonly refers to a computer. Uptime refers to the percentage of time a system is ready for operation under normal circumstances. Which Is More Important, Uptime or Availability?.What Other Key Metrics Are Relevant Surrounding Uptime and Availability.How Are Uptime and Availability Tracked?.Diving Deeper Into the Watermelon Effect.Understanding what these two metrics mean and what they don’t can help managed service providers (MSPs) create accurate and transparent agreements. These two metrics lead us to the uptime myth. Although these two metrics are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. This type of evaluation requires organizations to look at several metrics, including a system’s uptime (or reliability) and availability. For example, what services are required during an IT service outage to ensure minimal disruptions? Since disruptions occur, organizations should evaluate the services needed to run operations smoothly. In today’s highly connected digital environment, many believe that when an investment is made in technology, it should be accessible at all times - which is virtually impossible to guarantee. Unlike physical stores and organizations that operate during set hours, the IT world never sleeps.

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