In a world where cyber criminals constantly threaten businesses, where downtime is practically a swear word, and saving time and money have become business imperatives, network monitoring has never been more necessary.
The need to monitor computer networks – encompassing monitors, routers, firewalls, servers and even client systems and software – is vital. After all, should any of these components slow down the system, the more rapidly the problem can be addressed, the better, and this can only be achieved through constant visibility.
The challenge here, says Chris Muyaruka, NOC Team Leader at Turrito Networks,is that most organisations are using multiple tools to measure different aspects of their business, which can create confusion.
“What they need is a single tool that encompasses everything, so that instead of looking at different streams of information, the tool instead monitors all of these various data streams and is then able to deliver reports to the administrators in a way that is easy to digest and diagnose,” he says.
“Remember that some of the biggest challenges companies face when it comes to monitoring is business continuity, since the fear of losing data or services is a tangible one, as is the concern as to whether lost services can be recovered and kept free of degradation. In the same vein, security needs to be constantly monitored to prevent hackers or various types of malware from entering the system.”
In addition, he continues, return on investment (ROI) is key as well. When investing in new technology, there is always the concern for the customer that they will not achieve the ROI that will make such a purchase viable. Therefore, they want to know that their investments are future-proof and will last for a number of years, at least.
“For all of these reasons, measurement remains critical, as it is only through measurement that you can determine whether your business is gaining value from its investments, and that you are also delivering services to customers effectively and meeting your service level agreements.
“Effective measurement provides tangible data that helps to build trust between partners by creating transparency and encouraging better communications between both parties. It also answers the key question as to whether the partners are both gaining value for money from the partnership.”
However, as enterprises inevitably become more complex, explains Muyaruka, so the need for a single pane of glass view increases exponentially. Infrastructure sprawl and a growing reliance on multiple applications across the organisation make it much more difficult to obtain true visibility here, unless everything can be viewed via a single pane view. This also makes it easier to manage, to mitigate risks and to identify areas where investment is critically needed.
Asked why measurement is so critical in the first place, he says organisations want to know that the tools they have purchased are being utilised to their fullest capabilities. “It can also help you to motivate for additional budget from the finance department, as well as enabling you to justify the investment after the fact.
“Effective monitoring also enables a business to adapt quickly to any changes in demand as far as resources go, and the ability to detect, identify and escalate issues automatically will give administrators more time to focus on value addition and service improvement.”
“Ultimately, this is something all enterprises will need to consider, since, as new technologies like the Internet of things and 5G become ubiquitous, organisations will find they have thousands of connections to their network. This will make it virtually impossible to know who is connecting to whom and to what, creating a security nightmare. However, the introduction of a single pane of glass monitoring tool will solve this challenge, while also enabling the business to rely on usage-based data when planning for the implementation of new technologies. I believe tools like these will be the key to offering organisations far greater flexibility and agility in an increasingly complex digital world,” he concludes.
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