Software delivery & architecture · Working
Error budget
Also called: reliability budget
ELI5
How much failure is allowed before reliability work takes priority.
Used in conversation
“The team exhausted the error budget this month.”
Definition
The tolerated amount of unreliability implied by a service-level objective.
Here “Error budget” means: The tolerated amount of unreliability implied by a service-level objective.
Pitch context
You will see “Error budget” in product strategy decks, roadmaps, experiments and architecture reviews when the discussion reaches software delivery & architecture.
Why it matters: It helps a reader interpret software delivery & architecture without confusing the measure, decision, role or evidence being discussed.
Sources & evidence · 2
Direct term-level sources and supporting source families.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology — Computer Security Resource Center GlossaryDirect source · primary · checked 2026-08-16
- Scrum Guides — The Scrum Guide — official current versionSupporting source family · primary · checked 2026-08-16