For organizations in the always-open global economy, success means having constant access to enterprise data whenever it's needed. Unfortunately, critical business operations are often disrupted by breaks in the flow of the data. When calculating your organization’s data availability requirements there are several issues to consider. For example, if mission-critical database functions go offline, how long will it take to get things up and running? What are the business costs of these delays, and what steps can be taken to mitigate or eliminate delays in data availability?

When CIOs and IT managers grade the performance of IT operations regarding cost, it is imperative that they include the impact of downtime and the related operational costs. Whether the downtime is due to servers, networks or specific applications, having a greater awareness of the operational revenue lost will focus attention among upper management on enhancing IT infrastructure and creating solutions that mitigate system downtime. A reduction in system and application downtime of even 10% can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

Meeting database availability obligations on a consistent basis is an issue for most organizations, as apparently not all service-level agreements (SLAs) are complied with regularly.

Working with a managed service provider that can consistently deliver on SLAs can be one way of reducing downtime and in turn reducing the business costs associated with downtime.

Download our complimentary eBook titled, "17 Reasons Why You Should Rethink Your Database Strategy" for more information on creating a database strategy that will thrive for your enterprise.