Mean time to repair
What is mean time to repair?
Mean time to repair (MTTR) is a key performance indicator in software engineering that measures the average duration required to repair a system after a failure. This metric is crucial for understanding the efficiency and speed with which an issue is resolved after it's been identified in production. To calculate MTTR, you sum up all the repair times of each failure over a specified period and then divide by the number of repairs carried out during that period. This calculation provides an average value that helps teams assess their responsiveness and effectiveness in incident management and resolution.
Why is mean time to repair important?
Reduction in system downtime. Efficiently managing the mean time to repair ensures that any system downtime is kept to a minimum. This is crucial for maintaining the availability and reliability of the software, which in turn helps in sustaining the business operations and services that depend on the system.
Improvement in customer satisfaction. A lower MTTR typically leads to higher customer satisfaction as it reduces the impact of failures on the end-user experience. Quick fixes mean that users experience fewer disruptions, leading to a more positive perception of the service or product.
Enhanced operational efficiency. Monitoring and striving to improve MTTR can lead to more efficient processes and use of resources. It encourages teams to better understand issues, streamline their workflows, and enhance their skills in incident resolution, which collectively contribute to overall operational excellence.
What are the limitations of mean time to repair?
Does not indicate complexity or severity. MTTR averages the time taken to resolve all incidents, which can sometimes mask the severity or complexity of specific problems. For example, a few quick fixes could skew the average, making it appear as though the team is performing better overall than they actually are in handling complex issues.
Can encourage undesirable behavior. Focusing heavily on minimizing MTTR might lead teams to rush solutions or opt for quick fixes that don't adequately address the root causes of issues. This can lead to recurring problems or more significant failures in the future.
Lacks context about preventive measures. While MTTR focuses on the response to failures, it does not account for the effectiveness of preventive measures in place to avoid these failures. This can provide an incomplete picture of the overall system health and risk management practices.
Metrics related to mean time to repair
Mean time to recover. Mean time to recover (MTTR) relates closely to mean time to repair as it measures the time it takes to recover from a failure, not just to repair it. This includes any checks or tests performed post-repair to ensure that the system is fully functional and can handle live traffic or operational demands again.
Change failure rate. Change failure rate measures the percentage of changes that fail in production. A high change failure rate could increase the MTTR if failures are frequent and varied, necessitating more frequent interventions and repairs. Conversely, improvements in MTTR can help reduce the change failure rate by ensuring issues are resolved swiftly and effectively.
Deployment failure rate. This metric tracks the rate at which deployments fail, necessitating rollbacks or immediate repairs. A high deployment failure rate can be an indicator of issues in the deployment processes or the quality of the code being released. Reducing MTTR can help mitigate the impact of deployment failures by restoring service more quickly when failures do occur.
