One term that is often used interchangeably with MTBB is mean time between failures (MTBF). However, MTBF is really a more general term that refers to any sort of system failure, whereas MTBB can be used for a specific type of failure often associated with mechanical elements. Both of these terms have a lot in common, starting with the idea that both are commonly used to define how long a device, piece of hardware or other tech product will operate without failure. When mean time between breakdowns or mean time between failures is used as a specification for a product, companies often test their equipment in specific ways, such as by running thousands of identical units for a short time in order to figure out how many of them will fail.

As with MTBF and other related metrics, real evaluation of MTBB is based on a transparent explanation of how many units were run for a specific number of hours, and how this statistic contributes to a better understanding of how long a given product is likely to operate without error.