MTTD, MTTR and other metrics for Energy SOAR
In cybersecurity, every second matters. Organizations face advanced threats daily that can disrupt operations or compromise data. To measure effectiveness, metrics such as MTTD (Mean Time to Detect) and MTTR (Mean Time to Respond) are essential. They show how fast threats are identified and how efficiently they are resolved.
This article explores these metrics and how Energy SOAR helps SOC teams monitor and optimize them.
What is TTD?
Time to Detect (TTD) is the elapsed time between when an incident (e.g. a security breach, malware execution, or network anomaly) actually starts and when it is detected or recognized by your security systems or personnel.
What is MTTD?
Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) is the average of all TTD values over a certain period.
It tells you how quickly, on average, your team or system becomes aware of threats.
Why MTTD matters?
A lower MTTD means your monitoring tools and analysts are identifying threats quickly.
High MTTD could mean blind spots, insufficient monitoring, or slow alert processing.
What is TTR?
Time to Respond (TTR) is the time it takes from the detection of an incident to the point where it has been contained, mitigated, or resolved (i.e., the case is closed).
What is MTTR?
Mean Time to Respond (MTTR) is the average TTR across multiple incidents.
It shows how quickly your team takes action after identifying a problem.
Why MTTR Matters?
A low MTTR means your team responds and remediates threats efficiently.
A high MTTR might suggest delays in escalation, manual remediation processes, or lack of automation.
Putting it together
| Metric | Measures | From when to when | Goal |
| TTD | Time to detect an issue | Incident start → Detection | As low as possible |
| MTTD | Average detection time | Across incidents | Lower is better |
| TTR | Time to respond/resolve | Detection → Resolution | As low as possible |
| MTTR | Average response time | Across incidents | Lower is better |
Energy SOAR calculates MTTD and MTTR.
You can display the metrics on a dashboard to compare results over time.
You can easily check TTD and TTR for each resolved case:
Additionally time metrics are also calculated for each task.
Energy SOAR saves exact time data in the detailed view of the task.
On the Energy SOAR dashboards you can also display SLA time for open cases:
With automated tasks calculation of saved time is possible in form of KPI time saved and ROI. This gives perspective of how effective automated tasks are.
Key takeaways
- MTTD tells you how fast you’re noticing problems.
- MTTR tells you how fast you’re fixing them.
The metrics help improve your SOC performance, incident response planning and measure automation results.
MTTD and MTTR are more than technical metrics – they reflect an organization’s security maturity. Lower values mean stronger resilience and reduced risk. With Energy SOAR, which measures and automates response, companies can shift from reactive to proactive security.
Ultimately, fast detection and response are not just about technology, but about building trust with customers, partners, and the wider business ecosystem.
