Why Downtime and Reliability Top the List of Backend Performance Concerns for Engineers
Tags: backendreliability, applicationdowntime, sitereliabilityengineering, apitoolkit
Published: 2024-06-23 18:53:06

Last week we asked our community what aspect of backend performance concerns them the most. Almost 80% of engineers say downtime and reliability are their most pressing concerns.
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vt86k27kx7481uoovgl8.png) 
The results were telling: a whopping 78.6% of respondents cited downtime and reliability as their top concerns, while 21.4% were worried about slow API responses. In this article, we'll delve into why nearly 80% of engineers prioritize downtime and reliability, supported by data, insights, and community feedback.

## The High Cost of Downtime
The financial implications of downtime are staggering. According to Gartner, the average cost of IT downtime is approximately $5,600 per minute​ ([CBC Orlando](https://computerbusiness.com/news/the-true-cost-of-it-downtime-and-how-to-avoid-it/))​​ ([Atlassian](https://www.atlassian.com/incident-management/kpis/cost-of-downtime))​. This figure can vary widely depending on the industry and the size of the business. For instance, large enterprises can incur costs upwards of $9,000 per minute​ ([Atlassian](https://www.atlassian.com/incident-management/kpis/cost-of-downtime))​. This includes not only direct revenue loss but also the costs associated with lost productivity, recovery efforts, and potential damage to the company's reputation.
For startups and smaller businesses, it's even worse as a few minutes of downtime can damage the reputation, and decrease customer trust.

> "We had an hour of downtime last month, and it cost us a major client. Reliability isn't just a technical concern; it's a business imperative." - Reddit user.

## Customer Trust and User Experience

In today's digital world, users expect services to be available 24/7. Any downtime can lead to frustration and erode trust. A survey by Uptime Institute revealed that 31% of respondents experienced a downtime event that significantly impacted their business in the past year.

A tweet from @cra highlights the issue: 

> "Users don't care why you're down, they care that you're down. Downtime kills user trust. #DevOps #SRE"

## Competitive Pressure
In competitive markets, reliability can be a differentiator. Companies like Amazon and Google have set high standards with their near-zero downtime. This sets a benchmark that other companies strive to meet. 

> "Our uptime is our USP. If we can't keep our services running, our competitors will." from LinkedIn

## Complexity of Modern Systems
Modern applications are increasingly complex, often relying on multiple microservices, third-party APIs, and cloud infrastructure. This complexity increases the risk of downtime and makes troubleshooting more challenging.

A Hacker News discussion highlighted this issue: 

> "With so many moving parts, one small failure can cascade into a major outage. Ensuring reliability across the board is a constant challenge."


## Strategies to Mitigate Downtime - Monitoring and Observability
![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/xe9bkni9xplux8oag7sv.png)
To address these concerns, companies often invest in proactive monitoring, APM Management, and observability strategies. Partnering with IT-managed service providers can offer real-time monitoring and regular maintenance to prevent issues before they escalate​ ([CBC Orlando](https://computerbusiness.com/news/the-true-cost-of-it-downtime-and-how-to-avoid-it/))​. 

> The real turning point for me was understanding that you don’t really “prevent” downtime. You mitigate it, you design around it, and you set proper expectations. [A Reddit user](https://www.reddit.com/r/devops/comments/qqvelr/what_do_you_do_to_prevent_software_downtime/) 

Effective monitoring and observability tools are crucial for maintaining uptime and reliability. They allow engineers to detect and resolve issues before they escalate. [APItoolkit](https://apitoolkit.io/), for example, provides end-to-end observability, helping engineers catch errors from any source, whether it's the API itself or a dependent service.


## Join Our Webinars to Learn More

Downtime and reliability are top concerns for engineers, as highlighted by our Twitter poll. To address these challenges, we’re hosting a webinar titled **"Backend Performance and Error Monitoring with APItoolkit"** on **June 28th at 7:00 PM CET.**

In this session, industry experts will share strategies for maintaining uptime, ensuring reliability, and optimizing backend performance. Learn practical solutions to common challenges and enhance your backend systems.

Don't miss out— [register now](https://apitoolkit.io/events/webinar-ii/) to secure your spot!

Follow us on [X](https://twitter.com/APItoolkitHQ) to stay updated to our webinars

Join our [Discord Server](https://discord.gg/dEB6EjQnKB) and drop us a question.