When it comes to IT monitoring, we know that the essence of this topic is to ensure that systems, servers, applications, and services maintain an availability SLA as close to 100% as possible. However, many companies focus solely on monitoring tools and expect them to work and/or do most of the work on their own.

There are assumptions and best practices related to monitoring that are within the power of experts in the field. These assumptions and practices are crucial for the success of monitoring and, therefore, should receive the same attention and investment as the tools used.

What is truly important for effective monitoring?

One of the most important things for monitoring is the clear definition of its metrics and objectives. This involves deciding which indicators are most relevant to your business, which are your core services for your operation, and what performance levels are acceptable. Without these clear definitions, monitoring can become ineffective, and alerts generated by the tools can become irrelevant or excessive, making it difficult to identify real problems.  

After making these decisions and definitions, we should move on to the implementation of appropriate alerts. Alerts should be configured to trigger when a real problem occurs and when action is required. Excessive or unnecessary alerts can overload monitoring analysts and lead to a constant state of alertness, which can decrease the effectiveness of monitoring as operators become accustomed to the alarmed state and no longer give it importance.  

Maintaining accurate records is another important point for monitoring. These records allow the IT team to analyze and identify capacity patterns and trends, as well as provide an overview of the incident and resolution history. This helps the IT team better understand issues and make informed decisions about long-term solutions, rather than just dealing with immediate problems, also known as firefighting.  

Finally, regular analysis of monitoring data is crucial for improving performance and effectiveness. The collected data can be used to identify bottlenecks, performance issues, and areas for improvement, as well as help the IT team make more informed decisions about investments in IT infrastructure.

How to implement according to best practices?

Did you notice that all the most important points are common to any monitoring tool, and what changes is the implementation and operation of the environments? That's right. Therefore, although monitoring tools are important for detecting and resolving issues, the assumptions, processes, and best practices of monitoring are equally or even more important and should not be neglected. InfraOPS is the right partner to help you define clear metrics and monitoring objectives, implement appropriate alerts, maintain and present accurate records, and regularly analyze monitoring data. This way, your IT environment will be closer and closer to the desired 100% availability SLA. They are fundamental to the success of IT monitoring.

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