This paper enhances the observability of power networks by taking into consideration random component outages. The architecture of wide-area measurement system (WAMS) is analyzed in order to identify components that would affect the network observability. An iterative framework is devised to calculate a bus index in power networks equipped with phasor measurement units (PMUs) and conventional measurements. The average of bus indices represents a system index which provides an overall insight on the power network observability. The system index is utilized as a criterion to distinguish among multiple optimal PMU placements. Conventional bus injection and line flow measurements and the effect of zero-injection buses are considered in the proposed model. The numerical analyses are carried out for the proposed model and the results are discussed in detail.