Manually managed applications and systems represent some of the biggest costs -- and resource allocation challenges -- facing the enterprise today. By not having a comprehensive mitigation and management program in place, many companies suffer cost and application performance impacts that are far greater than most imagine. This white paper clearly describes the ROI to be gained by implementing an automated application availability system. The paper defines the downtime problem, examines the consequences that occur when applications and systems go offline unexpectedly, and identifies the obvious costs and the hidden vulnerabilities associated with a manually managed application environment. Sponsored by LEGATO Software, this white paper was written by Enterprise Management Associates.