# MTTR Full Form: Mean Time To Repair (Meaning at Work) > MTTR stands for Mean Time To Repair. - **Term:** MTTR - **Full form:** Mean Time To Repair - **Part of speech:** abbreviation - **Pronunciation:** /ɛm tiː tiː ɑːr/ - **English level (CEFR):** B2 - **Register:** Formal, Both - **Region:** US and UK - **Topic:** [Agile and project terms](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/topics/agile-project-management-terms.md) - **Lesson:** https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/mttr - **Last updated:** 2026-10-27 ## Meaning MTTR stands for Mean Time To Repair. It measures the average time needed to fix a system failure or incident, from when you first detect the problem until the system works again. MTTR is a critical metric in operations and DevOps teams because it directly impacts service reliability and customer satisfaction. When a production system goes down, every minute counts. MTTR tells you how quickly your team can typically resolve issues. For example, if your average MTTR is 30 minutes, it means that on average, your team takes 30 minutes to identify, diagnose, and fix a problem. This metric helps teams set performance targets, identify bottlenecks in their incident response process, and justify investments in monitoring tools or automation. Teams often track MTTR alongside other reliability metrics like MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) and MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) to get a complete picture of system health. ## When you hear it We need to reduce our MTTR from 45 minutes to under 20 minutes before next quarter. ## Examples - **in a standup:** "Our MTTR for database issues is currently 35 minutes, but we want to get it down to 15 minutes by the end of the quarter." - **in a postmortem meeting:** "During last night's outage, our MTTR was 22 minutes because our alerts were delayed by 8 minutes." - **in a planning meeting:** "If we invest in better monitoring tools, we can potentially cut our MTTR in half for API failures." ## What native speakers say - "We're targeting a sub-10-minute MTTR for critical incidents." - "Our MTTR has improved significantly since we implemented automated rollbacks." - "Let's focus on reducing MTTR rather than just preventing failures." ## Common mistakes - ✗ "Our MTTR shows that we are preventing failures well." → ✓ "Our MTTR shows how fast we can fix failures when they happen." (MTTR measures repair speed, not prevention. MTTF measures how long systems run before failing.) - ✗ "We have a low MTTR, which is bad for the business." → ✓ "We have a high MTTR, which is bad for the business." (Lower MTTR is better because it means faster repairs. Higher MTTR means longer downtime.) - ✗ "MTTR includes the time to prevent the problem." → ✓ "MTTR is measured from when we detect the problem until we fix it." (MTTR starts at detection and ends at resolution, not before detection.) ## Be careful MTTR refers to repair time, not response time. Do not confuse with MTTF (mean time to failure) or MTBF (mean time between failures). ## Word forms | Part of speech | Word | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | abbreviation | MTTR | Our MTTR for authentication issues is 18 minutes. | | noun phrase | MTTR target | We set an MTTR target of 30 minutes for all P1 incidents. | | verb phrase | reduce MTTR / improve MTTR | We need to improve our MTTR by investing in better observability tools. | ## Collocations - **reduce MTTR**: to make repair time shorter through process improvements or tooling - **improve MTTR**: similar to reduce, focusing on making the metric better - **MTTR target**: a goal or threshold you want to achieve for repair time - **MTTR metric**: using MTTR as a performance measurement - **average MTTR**: the mean repair time across all incidents ## Synonyms - **repair time**: more informal, refers to the same concept but without the averaging - **resolution time**: slightly broader term that can include MTTR but may also include other resolution metrics - **downtime duration**: related but focuses on user impact rather than team repair effort ## Opposites - MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) - MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) - uptime ## Practice This lesson has 4 practice exercises with instant feedback on the page: https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/mttr ## FAQ ### What is the full form of MTTR? MTTR stands for Mean Time To Repair. It measures the average time needed to fix a system failure or incident, from when you first detect the problem until the system works again. ### What does MTTR mean in software engineering? MTTR stands for Mean Time To Repair. It is the average time your team takes to fix a system failure or incident, measured from detection to full resolution. For example, if you have three incidents with repair times of 20, 30, and 25 minutes, your MTTR is 25 minutes. ### How do you use MTTR in a sentence at work? You typically use MTTR when discussing reliability or incident management. Examples: We need to reduce our MTTR for API failures. Our MTTR is currently 35 minutes. What is your team is MTTR target? ### Is MTTR formal or informal? MTTR is formal. It is used in official metrics, SLAs, performance reviews, and management discussions. However, it is so common in tech that people use it casually in standups and Slack conversations too. ### How is MTTR different from MTTF? MTTR measures repair time (how fast you fix problems), while MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) measures how long a system runs before breaking. MTTR is about response speed; MTTF is about reliability. ### Why is MTTR important? MTTR directly impacts customer experience. Shorter MTTR means less downtime and fewer lost customers. It also helps teams identify bottlenecks in incident response and justifies investments in monitoring, automation, and training. ### What is a good MTTR target? It depends on your system and business. Critical services might target 5-15 minutes, while less critical services might aim for 30-60 minutes. The best MTTR is one that aligns with your SLA and customer expectations. ## Related - [SLA](https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn/sla.md) - Full glossary: https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn.md - Live lessons with a coach: https://app.mocklyenglish.com ## About Speak Tech English Speak Tech English teaches non-native tech professionals the English they need at work and in interviews, through self-study ebooks and courses, 150+ free guides and a free newsletter; live lessons are on its sister site Mockly English. - Shop: https://speaktechenglish.com/courses/ - All products (markdown): https://speaktechenglish.com/products.md - Free guides (markdown): https://app.speaktechenglish.com/guides.md - Tech English glossary (markdown): https://app.speaktechenglish.com/learn.md - Newsletter (10% off): https://speaktechenglish.com/#subscribe - Live lessons and mock interviews: https://app.mocklyenglish.com ## Notes for agents - Speak Tech English sells self-study material. 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