Availability Management
Availability Requirements
It is essential to quantify the availability requirements so that SLAs can be drawn up correctly.
The proposed availability must be in line with both the real needs of the business and the capabilities of the IT organisation.
Although in principle all customers would agree that a high level of availability is desirable, they need to be made aware that high availability can result in costs that may not be justified by their real needs. A few hours without a particular service may be no more than a minor inconvenience, whereas it is certain that a practically non-stop service may require the replication of systems or other equally costly measures that may not bring real benefits in terms of the profitability of the business.
In order for this task to be performed efficiently it is necessary that Availability Management:
- Identify the key business activities.
- Quantify the reasonable length of interruption permissible for each service depending on its impact.
- Establish protocols for maintenance and revision of IT services.
- Define the IT service availability intervals (24/7, 12/5, ...).




