Whether you are a DIY ace or a master at roast beef, a decorated luthier or the best seamstress in the neighborhood, we all love to work with good tools, right? This includes, of course, good IT professionals. Because IT monitoring tools are fundamental when it comes to supervising a network infrastructure and applying the corresponding policies and security measures. Even so, not every monitoring tool is perfect, in fact some could even get to the point of harming us. Let’s take a look!
Better monitoring tools, better monitoring
It’s instinctively basic: you have to find the right monitoring tool for each job. Indeed, although it may seem unheard of, it is quite difficult for IT teams to find comprehensive and outstanding monitoring tools. Some of them are too specialized or do not support all applications because they might lack certain features. This dilemma can lead IT teams to use hundreds of disparate monitoring tools, due to the need to attend to all monitoring tasks. I know what you are thinking: “That must be expensive”. Yes, it is, plus it slows down the working pace due to the huge amount of reports, each with their own features, to be inspected and checked.
That is why we must avoid tool proliferation, as we avoid the proliferation of gremlins or herniated discs. Preventing it through individual monitoring solutions, even if this requires significant changes, such as the implementation of integrated tools, conceived to support multiple applications, or special network configurations.
The most efficient thing would be to go for IT monitoring tools that include updates to support today’s most respected applications and provide IT administrators with a single management board.
Simplifying is the key
If you have to choose a monitoring platform, you should be aware beforehand that different IT sectors require different types of solutions. Try, with a single solution, to address as many sections as possible, thus adding further depth to monitoring activities. Such a single solution will give you a greater ability to automate responses and locate irregular events in any system you are monitoring.
For this reason, IT departments often look for a suite of fully integrated IT tools offered by centralized system management and monitoring companies. These companies often promise to reduce the license and maintenance costs of their software, as well as the use of their monitoring tool integrated in the corresponding environment to help manage the company.
The IT department will reduce costs thanks to these integrated tools, among other things because they already have a strong response to any problem that may arise. In fact, one of the direct benefits is the reduction of incidents that require the action of the support teams. Also general performance visibility and system availability, thus increasing the total productivity of the company.
But hold on there, before you go running to look for a monitoring tool that suits your company’s requirements and even your zodiac sign, it is TOTALLY NECESSARY to define what justifies monitoring in your company. Remember that each piece of your IT department will have something to say and contribute, there are different features regarding each function, information flow and security clauses. Once you have a full and clear idea of what you and your company need, you may start with a good monitoring strategy.
Application monitoring tools
Application monitoring is, broadly speaking, monitoring activity logs to see how applications are being used. You know, looking at the access roles of the users, the data that is accessed, how this data is used… If your monitoring tool is good, it even shows a window to the log data and an exhaustive view of all the data elements that make up a healthy application: response times, data traces…
Any self-respecting application monitoring tool has to offer these kinds of features, as well as being integrated with database and network monitoring. Thus, together, they will be able to improve application response times through active and immediate solutions to performance problems that arise.
Network monitoring tools
DNS host monitoring, IP address management, packet tracking… This is more or less what all network monitoring tools usually offer. They usually fall short, however, when it comes to supervising everything related to network traffic, whether internally or externally. What they should always provide, under oath, is full surveillance of all devices connected to the network.
Compliance control monitoring
Don’t worry, if you haven’t yet managed to justify implementing a full monitoring tool, compliance monitoring will make up your mind.
Compliance monitoring solutions will provide you with templates based on types of regulations, allowing you to conveniently design and implement a comprehensive compliance monitoring strategy, including the ability to monitor log data, in real time, from any type of device connected to your network, including routers and switches.
Thanks to compliance control monitoring tools you will be able to collect, correlate and export any necessary registration information for the IT team. Report templates will be able to align with formats common to regulatory agencies. In addition to providing exhaustive analysis in the case of internal audits.
Conclusions
If we have made something clear today, it is that the system management and monitoring solution you choose must meet a small series of requirements: be integrated into several systems, be accessible to the IT team through an intuitive interface based on a control panel, be scalable, and stay constantly evolving so that its ability to help you maintain your services can go forward and transcend when you need it.
If doubt and anxiety overcome you, do not worry, what you are looking for is not far away. Pandora FMS is capable of monitoring all these IT areas that we talked about and much more. Thanks to its more than 16 features and more than 500 Enterprise plugins available. Also, if you are not very knowledgeable in this matter, do not worry, we manage it for you with our MaaS solution. Try it now, for 30 days, for free!
Resources:
Dimas P.L., de la lejana y exótica Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, periodista, redactor, taumaturgo del contenido y campeón de espantar palomas en los parques. Actualmente resido en Madrid donde trabajo como paladín de la comunicación en Pandora FMS y periodista freelance cultural en cualquier medio que se ofrezca. También me vuelvo loco escribiendo y recitando por los círculos poéticos más profundos y oscuros de la ciudad.
Dimas P.L., from the distant and exotic Vega Baja, CasiMurcia, journalist, editor, thaumaturgist of content and champion of scaring pigeons in parks. I currently live in Madrid where I work as a communication champion in Pandora FMS and as a freelance cultural journalist in any media offered. I also go crazy writing and reciting in the deepest and darkest poetic circles of the city.
