Mission-Critical Application
Definition
A mission-critical application is a software system vital to the core functions of an organization, where any disruption or failure can lead to significant financial, operational, or safety consequences. These applications require continuous uptime and reliability to support essential business operations, such as ERP systems, financial services platforms, or healthcare management systems.
What is an example of a mission-critical application?
An example of a mission-critical application is an airline reservation system, which handles flight bookings, ticketing, and passenger information. If this system goes down, it can lead to canceled flights, lost revenue, and significant disruptions to both airline operations and passenger experiences.
Mission-critical software vs. commercial software
Mission-critical software is designed to ensure continuous availability and reliability, supporting essential operations that must not fail, such as financial transaction systems or healthcare platforms. Commercial software, on the other hand, typically serves general business needs but may not require the same level of reliability, such as office productivity tools or CRM systems.
How to identify critical applications?
Critical applications are identified by evaluating their impact on core business functions, their role in maintaining operational continuity, and the level of risk involved if the application experiences downtime or failure. If a system’s unavailability significantly disrupts operations, it is considered mission-critical.
Mission-critical is also known as:
- Business-critical
- Essential Systems
- Vital applications
- Key Operations