By IT Brew Staff
less than 3 min read
Definition:
Mean time to resolution (MTTR) is a metric that describes the average time it takes to recover from an incident or failure.
According to my calculations
To calculate MTTR, add up the time it took to address failures or incidents in a given period and divide it by the total number of issues.
Why is it important?
Knowing an MTTR is important because it provides a clear measurement that can help determine how efficient your organization is at resolving incidents. This data could be used to determine areas that can be improved in a company’s incident recovery processes. A lower MTTR, or less downtime during failures, can also translate to higher customer sentiment.
What’s a good MTTR?
A “good” MTTR will vary from organization to organization. However, a general rule of thumb could be to strive for an MTTR of less than five hours.
Other acronyms to know
When talking about MTTR, some other metrics you may see discussed include:
- Mean time to detect (MTTD): The average time it takes a company to detect an issue from when it first started.
- Mean time to failure (MTTF): The average time it takes for a system to fail and need replacement. In other words, this measures the lifespan of a product or system.
- Mean time to recovery (also MTTR): The average time it takes to recover from an incident. This differs from mean time to resolution because it includes the time from when an incident was acknowledged up until a company has fully recovered from it.
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