Downtime

/ˈdaʊnˌtaɪm/ noun

Definition

The period when a system, service, or machine is unavailable or not functioning. In business, it represents lost productivity and potential revenue.

Etymology

Originally from manufacturing (1920s) referring to when machines were 'down' for maintenance. Extended to computing in the 1960s and now encompasses any service interruption.

Kelly Says

Downtime is so expensive that Amazon estimates they lose $220,000 per minute when their systems go down! This is why tech companies obsess over 'five nines' availability (99.999% uptime), which allows only 5.26 minutes of downtime per year.

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