diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Alarms/GatewayAlarmMonitor.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Alarms/GatewayAlarmMonitor.cs
index fdbfc89..a353d9c 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Alarms/GatewayAlarmMonitor.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Alarms/GatewayAlarmMonitor.cs
@@ -399,7 +399,13 @@ public sealed class GatewayAlarmMonitor : BackgroundService, IGatewayAlarmServic
             BroadcastToAll(new AlarmFeedMessage { ProviderStatus = status });
         }
 
-        _metrics.AlarmProviderSwitched(fromModeInt, ModeToInt(toMode), reason);
+        AlarmProviderSwitchReason switchReason = toMode switch
+        {
+            AlarmProviderMode.Subtag => AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Failover,
+            AlarmProviderMode.Alarmmgr => AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Failback,
+            _ => AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Unknown,
+        };
+        _metrics.AlarmProviderSwitched(fromModeInt, ModeToInt(toMode), switchReason);
 
         _logger.LogInformation(
             "Alarm provider mode changed to {Mode} (degraded={Degraded}): {Reason}",
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/AlarmProviderSwitchReason.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/AlarmProviderSwitchReason.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..da024c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/AlarmProviderSwitchReason.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+namespace ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server.Metrics;
+
+/// <summary>
+///     Bounded classification of an alarm-provider switch, used as the low-cardinality
+///     <c>reason</c> tag on the <c>mxgateway.alarms.provider_switches</c> counter. The
+///     worker supplies a free-text reason (e.g. <c>"primary PollOnce failed"</c>) that
+///     stays in the structured log; only this bounded value reaches the metric tag so the
+///     time series cannot fan out on operation-specific text.
+/// </summary>
+public enum AlarmProviderSwitchReason
+{
+    /// <summary>The switch direction could not be classified.</summary>
+    Unknown = 0,
+
+    /// <summary>Switched from the primary (alarmmgr) provider to the subtag standby — degraded.</summary>
+    Failover = 1,
+
+    /// <summary>Switched back from the subtag standby to the primary (alarmmgr) provider — recovered.</summary>
+    Failback = 2,
+}
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetrics.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetrics.cs
index 959ef41..15fad05 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetrics.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetrics.cs
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ public sealed class GatewayMetrics : IDisposable
     private long _heartbeatFailures;
     private long _streamDisconnects;
     private long _retryAttempts;
+    private long _alarmProviderSwitches;
     private bool _disposed;
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -383,25 +384,34 @@ public sealed class GatewayMetrics : IDisposable
     }
 
     /// <summary>
-    /// Records that the alarm provider switched modes and updates the current provider mode gauge.
+    /// Records that the alarm provider switched modes, increments the switch count, and updates the
+    /// current provider mode gauge.
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="fromMode">Provider mode before the switch (1=alarmmgr, 2=subtag, 0=unknown).</param>
     /// <param name="toMode">Provider mode after the switch (1=alarmmgr, 2=subtag, 0=unknown).</param>
-    /// <param name="reason">Human-readable reason for the switch.</param>
-    public void AlarmProviderSwitched(int fromMode, int toMode, string reason)
+    /// <param name="reason">Bounded switch classification used as the counter's <c>reason</c> tag.</param>
+    public void AlarmProviderSwitched(int fromMode, int toMode, AlarmProviderSwitchReason reason)
     {
         lock (_syncRoot)
         {
             _alarmProviderMode = toMode;
+            _alarmProviderSwitches++;
         }
 
         _alarmProviderSwitchesCounter.Add(
             1,
             new KeyValuePair<string, object?>("from", fromMode.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)),
             new KeyValuePair<string, object?>("to", toMode.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)),
-            new KeyValuePair<string, object?>("reason", reason));
+            new KeyValuePair<string, object?>("reason", ReasonTag(reason)));
     }
 
+    private static string ReasonTag(AlarmProviderSwitchReason reason) => reason switch
+    {
+        AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Failover => "failover",
+        AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Failback => "failback",
+        _ => "unknown",
+    };
+
     /// <summary>Sets the current alarm provider-mode gauge without recording a switch (e.g. startup baseline).</summary>
     public void SetAlarmProviderMode(int mode)
     {
@@ -433,6 +443,7 @@ public sealed class GatewayMetrics : IDisposable
                 HeartbeatFailures: _heartbeatFailures,
                 StreamDisconnects: _streamDisconnects,
                 RetryAttempts: _retryAttempts,
+                AlarmProviderSwitchCount: _alarmProviderSwitches,
                 CommandFailuresByMethod: new Dictionary<string, long>(_commandFailuresByMethod, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase),
                 EventsByFamily: new Dictionary<string, long>(_eventsByFamily, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase),
                 EventsBySession: new Dictionary<string, long>(_eventsBySession, StringComparer.Ordinal),
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetricsSnapshot.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetricsSnapshot.cs
index c96f570..996d44a 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetricsSnapshot.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Server/Metrics/GatewayMetricsSnapshot.cs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ public sealed record GatewayMetricsSnapshot(
     long HeartbeatFailures,
     long StreamDisconnects,
     long RetryAttempts,
+    long AlarmProviderSwitchCount,
     IReadOnlyDictionary<string, long> CommandFailuresByMethod,
     IReadOnlyDictionary<string, long> EventsByFamily,
     IReadOnlyDictionary<string, long> EventsBySession,
diff --git a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Metrics/GatewayMetricsTests.cs b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Metrics/GatewayMetricsTests.cs
index 2ac7ff1..3fa974c 100644
--- a/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Metrics/GatewayMetricsTests.cs
+++ b/src/ZB.MOM.WW.MxGateway.Tests/Metrics/GatewayMetricsTests.cs
@@ -111,12 +111,13 @@ public sealed class GatewayMetricsTests
             });
         listener.Start();
 
-        metrics.AlarmProviderSwitched(1, 2, "test");
+        metrics.AlarmProviderSwitched(1, 2, AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Failover);
 
         Assert.Equal(1, capturedValue);
         Assert.Equal("1", capturedFrom);
         Assert.Equal("2", capturedTo);
-        Assert.Equal("test", capturedReason);
+        Assert.Equal("failover", capturedReason);
+        Assert.Equal(1, metrics.GetSnapshot().AlarmProviderSwitchCount);
     }
 
     /// <summary>
@@ -150,7 +151,7 @@ public sealed class GatewayMetricsTests
             });
         listener.Start();
 
-        metrics.AlarmProviderSwitched(1, 2, "test");
+        metrics.AlarmProviderSwitched(1, 2, AlarmProviderSwitchReason.Failover);
         listener.RecordObservableInstruments();
 
         Assert.Equal(2, capturedMode);