Monitoring & Clouds

x

February 2014

In keeping with recent trends, network monitoring vendors and service providers have been talking up their cloud readiness and potential. This article is designed to go some way to dispelling some of the myths re cloud monitoring, and to provide KLARITY on the definitions used by network management and monitoring providers. Please note that I am referring here to Network Monitoring being delivered in a Cloud model, which can include monitoring the performance of applications that have been provisioned to be delivered via a cloud model. This article however will not address monitoring 'Cloud Infrastructure'. That for the most part is another monitoring challenge that cloud facilitators and service providers are facing and are scrambling to resolve (a discussion for another day). 

As if I.T. needed yet another acronym, but alas Maas (Monitoring as a Service) is one of the latest used by managed service providers around the globe. So, what does MaaS actually mean? Well for the most part, it means that a service provider will monitor the availability of certain I.T. services remotely in a 'cloud' model. This type of monitoring has been around for years, what has changed is the perception that you can monitor your entire I.T. infrastructure via a cloud model.

Cloud monitoring via an external service provider has some merit:

      1/  It makes sense to have an independent third party, that is not trying to sell you other products and services give you visibility of the performance or at the very least the availability of certain I.T. services,
      2/  In a world where cloud computing and more importantly cloud services (often purchased as 'Shadow I.T. services) are rampant and the workforce is more mobile than ever, somethimes monitoring the network from head office may not be as relevant.  I.T. and cloud services must be available to the remote customer/user, so allow the monitoring system to behave as a user and monitor these services remotely.

We are potentially talking about two different monitoring solutions here. One, is that your business needs to ensure that its staff and customers have access to all of the applications and services required to keep the company operational, efficient, and profitable. Two, is that the I.T. department have to ensure that the I.T. infrastructure is configured, delivered, and available to deliver the applications and services that they may or may not provide.

Whether these two variants of monitoring can be delivered in a 'cloud' model depends heavily on:

• the size of your I.T. infrastructure,
• what it is that you wish to monitor,
• the security implications of opening up your network and applications to be polled remotely,
• the efficiency of the service providers monitoring tool(s) of choice.

The argument in favor of a comprehensive cloud based monitoring solution may be difficult to accept. Is it much easier to accept that your I.T. organisation is a service provider delivering applications, services, and technology solutions to your business. If so, should this service provider be monitoring its own performance and deliverables?

Monitoring as a Service could be a smart choice for business to:

      a) ensure that your investment in I.T. is regularly and independently assessed;
      b) free up your I.T. staff so that they stay focussed on adding value to your business rather than 'tinkering' with Network Monitoring tools;
      c) ensure that you have access to the best network monitoring solutions available in the market as you are using a service with deliverables, rather than being locked into a product or products;
      d) have monitoring experts available to you that understand SNMP, MIBs, OIDs, and more importantly upcoming challenges like SNMPv3 and its impact on your I.T. Monitoring etc...
      e) take advantage of pay as you go monitoring infrastructure.

KLARITY offer several levels of engagement to help our customers:

      1/  assess the state of play in their current network management strategy and understand the strengths and limitations of legacy and modern monitoring systems;
      2/  deliver intelligent, fast, efficient monitoring systems and processes;
      3/  gain immediate value from their monitoring solutions with experienced training resources in tools and best practises;
      4/  manage their ongoing monitoring requirements through agile and effective managed services.

For further information or to arrange a free initial interview with KLARITY please contact us.

Author: Neil Cornwell - [email protected]