When it comes to high availability (HA), too many organizations approach design from a technical or departmental lens. Margaret Hoagland, VP of Global Sales & Marketing at SIOS Technology, argues that this is where things go wrong. In this TFiR interview, Hoagland proposes a business-first approach that unifies application and infrastructure teams around a shared outcome: minimizing the cost of downtime.

Rather than starting with system architecture or uptime SLAs, Hoagland suggests beginning with a simple question: what happens if this system goes down for an hour?

That question, applied to platforms like SQL Server or SAP, surfaces real-world business consequences. From disrupted customer service to lost productivity and delayed transactions, the cost of downtime quickly becomes tangible.

Once teams agree on the impact, they can align on how to respond. What level of manual intervention is required? What’s the expected recovery time and recovery point? Who gets involved, and how quickly can the system be restored?

This collaborative exercise helps teams uncover where their priorities diverge. App teams may push for automation and rapid failover. Infra teams may emphasize cost control and operational simplicity. By grounding the conversation in business impact, both sides can move toward a common set of goals.

Hoagland emphasizes that this isn’t a one-time alignment exercise. Each critical application should be reviewed individually — what she calls an application-to-application approach. The recovery strategy for SAP may differ from SQL Server, and the teams must adjust accordingly.

Ultimately, effective HA design comes down to one thing: mutual understanding rooted in company-wide priorities, not isolated team mandates.

By focusing less on internal goals and more on external impact, organizations can create HA systems that are not only technically robust but also strategically sound.