Outage
Definition
A system failure prevents the agreed use of an important function.
A period during which a system or an essential function is not available as agreed.
Simply explained
A required service temporarily does not function as agreed, even if other parts are still running.
Why it matters in practice
The term contributes to secure, maintainable, and high-performance web applications as well as resilient technical decisions.
Example from business
An API is not reachable for customers, although individual internal components are still running.
Limits and pitfalls
- Counting only complete shutdowns as outages or ignoring user impact and partial outages.
Origin & history
Outage management developed with highly available IT and telecommunications services.
Use in mid-sized companies
- Possible application: An API is not reachable for customers, although individual internal components are still running.
Frequently asked questions
What does system outage mean?
A period during which a system or an essential function is not available as agreed. What mistakes should be avoided? Counting only complete shutdowns as outages or ignoring user impact and partial outages.
Sources
Source checked on 10.10.2026. Editorial application examples are hypothetical; no evidence of real customer results.
Editorially reviewed on: