# Why Google is never closed for maintenance and how banks can follow suit Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2021-12-02 Category: TECHNOLOGY Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/technology Meta Title: The Key to Google's Success: Site Reliability Meta Description: Discover how Google's innovative Site Reliability Engineering system has revolutionised internet giants' performance and uptime, setting the standard URL: https://financedigest.com/why-google-is-never-closed-for-maintenance-and-how-banks-can-follow-suithtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/chiang-mai-thailand-september-07-2014-a-google-search-home-page-on-a-ipad-screen-new-a-sbi-301087444-1736836733851-compressed.jpg) _By_ **_Guy Warren,_** _CEO of ITRS Group_ What makes Google different from other businesses? It’s not the sleep pods, or lunch-time quidditch games. It’s not their ability to [innovate new technologies](https://www.financedigest.com/innovative-apps-to-foster-the-growth-of-gene-editing-technologies-market.html "Innovative apps to foster the growth of Gene Editing Technologies Market"). It’s that, for the majority of us, our use of it is barely a [consumer choice](https://www.financedigest.com/chip-and-pin-cards-remain-consumers-first-choice-for-payments.html "Chip and pin cards remain consumers’ first choice for payments") – particularly for Gen Zs, who grew up with Google almost as a supplementary parental figure, donning out immediate advice and solutions in response to their every question and whim. It’s as [integral a part](https://www.financedigest.com/what-is-id-and-verification-and-why-is-it-such-an-integral-part-of-digital-life.html "What Is ID and Verification and Why is it Such an Integral Part of Digital Life?") of our day-to-day infrastructure as the roads we walk down. It’s even one of the few brand [names to make it into the Oxford English](https://www.financedigest.com/tech-entrepreneur-named-finalist-at-the-first-english-womens-awards-2018.html "Tech entrepreneur named finalist at the first English Women’s Awards 2018") Dictionary as a verb. Put simply, Google is always there. It’s omnipresent. This is both the [key to its success](https://www.financedigest.com/mvp-for-startups-the-key-to-success.html "MVP for startups: the key to success") and the weight it bears. It can never _not_ be there, such is the dependence we now have on it. For that reason, there is only one thing more amazing than inventing a platform like Google: maintaining it for more than two decades of [exponential growth](https://www.financedigest.com/sales-of-electric-bicycle-motors-market-to-record-exponential-growth-during-2017-2025.html "Sales of Electric Bicycle Motors Market to Record Exponential Growth During 2017 – 2025"). And it has achieved this through what is arguably their greatest but most boring sounding invention: Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) – a [monitoring system](https://www.financedigest.com/the-hemodynamic-monitoring-systems-market-to-clamber-on-the-shoulders-of-innovation.html "The Hemodynamic Monitoring Systems Market To Clamber On The Shoulders Of Innovation") that is now the gold standard of performance delivery for internet giants. SRE involves tracking [data and trends over a long lifespan to identify and quickly fix](https://www.financedigest.com/finance-firms-must-ensure-they-fix-data-fundamentals.html "Finance firms must ensure they fix data fundamentals") degrading performance levels, usually prompted by a particular change, well before the situation comes in breach of its Service Level Agreement (SLA). The system uses both [Service Level](https://www.financedigest.com/open-banking-levels-the-playing-field-for-smes-and-brings-hope-of-a-better-future-for-financial-services.html "Open Banking Levels the Playing Field for SMEs and Brings Hope of a Better Future for financial services") Objectives (SLOs) and Service Level Indicators (SLIs) in a two-phase early warning system to ensure they are never even close to breaching the minimum downtime promised. It was borne out of a commitment by Google 10 years ago to maintain [operational resilience](https://www.financedigest.com/2021-predictions-operational-resilience-takes-center-stage.html "2021 Predictions: Operational Resilience Takes Center Stage") and provide customers with near-24/7 uptime by becoming the first major cloud provider to eliminate maintenance windows from their SLA. Since then, they have been making thousands of [changes to their services every single day](https://www.financedigest.com/mobey-day-toronto-to-explore-changing-spending-habits-ai-and-robotics.html "Mobey Day Toronto to Explore Changing Spending Habits, AI and Robotics") with barely a hiccup. Yet, despite it being largely to thank for Google’s longevity, SRE is not what makes Google famous. In popular conception, it is famous for its monolithic size and market share dominance, and leading the world towards [digital transformation](https://www.financedigest.com/redefining-the-human-touch-with-data-driven-digital-transformation.html "Redefining the human touch with data-driven digital transformation"). These are the traits that less digitally-native [sectors like banking](https://www.financedigest.com/big-ecb-hike-adds-fuel-to-the-banking-sector-fire.html "Big ECB hike adds fuel to the banking sector fire") have been historically trying to replicate over, following Google down a road of rapid expansion without the essential safety net of SRE. This has led to unwieldy expansion of [financial services](https://www.financedigest.com/how-financial-services-are-overhauling-security-to-defend-against-spoofing-scams.html "How financial services are overhauling security to defend against spoofing scams") firms’ IT estates, with new solutions tacked on to legacy systems, often rendering observability of transaction flow impossible and causing damaging IT failures. Encouraged by COVID-19, which has put digital availability front of mind, the last 18 months have seen [banks finally switching](https://www.financedigest.com/new-legislation-makes-switching-bank-accounts-simples.html "New legislation makes switching bank accounts “simples”") on to the importance of SRE. Repeat [global outages at major banks](https://www.financedigest.com/global-shares-jump-but-bank-whack-a-mole-not-over.html "Global shares jump but bank ‘whack-a-mole’ not over") have shone a light on the cracks in legacy systems, and new oncoming regulations are set to mandate stronger commitments to individual SLAs and operational resilience. For individual businesses, this will involve collecting and tracking a sufficient volume of [data to gain much-needed visibility and indicate as soon as they might](https://www.financedigest.com/your-money-is-safe-but-your-data-might-not-be.html "YOUR MONEY IS SAFE, BUT YOUR DATA MIGHT NOT BE") be heading towards a breach, particularly when updating existing services or onboarding new ones. Google, of course, has the [benefit of massive resources and an incredibly experienced team](https://www.financedigest.com/top-5-ways-your-business-could-benefit-from-a-team-breakfast.html "Top 5 Ways Your Business Could Benefit from a Team Breakfast") dedicated to the monitoring of this data. But smaller [businesses should not discount themselves from such an approach](https://www.financedigest.com/driving-business-efficiencies-with-a-dedicated-credit-management-approach.html "Driving business efficiencies with a dedicated credit management approach"). Third-party providers can support them in their shift to SRE, using threshold-based tools with coded alerts, as well as [predictive analysis](https://www.financedigest.com/predictive-analysis-to-be-one-of-the-pathways-of-the-aesthetic-workstations-market.html "Predictive Analysis to be one of the pathways of the Aesthetic Workstations Market") tools to anticipate downtime threats. With third-party support, [businesses can improve](https://www.financedigest.com/improve-your-business-while-saving-the-planet-and-your-back-with-easycat.html "Improve your business while saving the planet and your back with EasyCat") and demonstrate operational resilience across the entire estate, achieving Google-level uptime without Google-level resources. --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---