Selecting a high availability (HA) solution isn’t just about ticking boxes — it’s about balancing the needs of multiple teams across IT. In this TFiR interview, Margaret Hoagland, VP of Global Sales & Marketing at SIOS Technology, outlines a pragmatic approach for choosing an HA environment that satisfies both application owners and infrastructure leaders.

First, organizations should consider consistency. Can the HA solution operate uniformly across different platforms like Linux and Windows? This kind of consistency reduces training needs, simplifies infrastructure management, and helps maintain reliability across environments. It’s especially important for infra teams looking to avoid specialized deployments that raise total cost of ownership.

Second, automation plays a major role. Hoagland points out that some so-called HA solutions still require manual intervention to trigger failover or recovery. That’s a problem for app teams under pressure to minimize downtime. Automated failover reduces reliance on human intervention and speeds up recovery — aligning with uptime goals.

Third, there’s the matter of ease of use. If a solution requires significant coding or scripting, it may drive up operational costs and slow response times. A high degree of manual work often undermines the perceived value of the system, especially from a TCO perspective. Both app and infra teams benefit from solutions that are intuitive and efficient to manage.

Ultimately, Hoagland recommends evaluating HA environments through the lens of automation, consistency, and usability — not just cost. A well-balanced approach ensures high availability that’s practical, cost-effective, and aligned with the goals of the organization as a whole.