This book explains how system availability and software reliability relate to real-world telecommunications systems. Readers will gain knowledge of how to understand, model, predict, and manage system availability throughout the development cycle. The methods and concepts discussed are practical in nature, and the modeling and prediction techniques and tools are customer-focused, data-driven, and aligned with industry standards. This is a valuable resource for system/software architects, engineers, testers, and product managers working in software in the industrial, IT, telecommunications, aerospace, military, and medical fields.

Written by a panel of authors with a wealth of industry experience, the methods and concepts presented here give readers a solid understanding of modeling and managing system and software availability and reliability through the development of real applications and products. The modeling and prediction techniques and tools are customer-focused and data-driven, and are also aligned with industry standards (Telcordia, TL 9000, ISO, etc.). Readers will get a clear understanding about what real-world reliability and availability mean through step-by-step discussions of:

* System availability
* Conceptual model of reliability and availability
* Why availability varies between customers
* Modeling availability
* Estimating parameters and availability from field data
* Estimating input parameters from laboratory data
* Estimating input parameters in the architecture/design stage
* Prediction accuracy
* Connecting the dots

This book can be used by system architects, engineers, and developers to better understand and manage the reliability/availability of their products; quality engineers to grasp how software and hardware quality relate to system availability; and engineering students as part of a short course on system availability and software reliability.