Best
Practices In Choosing Network Monitoring Software
Released on
= August 19, 2005, 2:39 pm
Press Release
Author = Rod Fukanaga
Industry = Computers
Press Release
Summary = Article on How to Choose Network Monitoring and Management
Software.
Press Release
Body = Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Hawaii (HMSA) found itself
with a rapidly expanding network and data center. Our network devices,
servers, and software were all growing in complexity and we knew
that we would have to leverage technology to gain better control
of our IT systems and network. In the past, we confronted the same
dilemma that systems administrators in all IT
organizations face: weighing the value of simple monitoring solutions
versus expensive, feature-rich enterprise solutions that require
labor intensive maintenance. We attempted to implement a large-scale
system and network monitoring package from a major vendor but found
the product was never fully implemented or adopted by the users
because of its overbearing complexity. We then quickly
implemented an inexpensive, low-end package that provided basic
monitoring –
but lacked much of the deeper functionality our organization required,
such as performance and application monitoring. we knew we had to
take a completely new approach. We decided to develop a set of best
practices to ensure that new investments in system and network monitoring
would be successful.
At the core of these best practices are two themes – simplicity
and
cost-effectiveness HMSA’s core best practices rest on five
elements:
- Data center monitoring technology should be Web-based. Web-based
technology simplifies rolling out the system, because no client-side
application must be installed and upgraded. In addition, administrators
can work from any location. Web-based user interfaces are also typically
easy to learn, easing adoption and lowering training costs.
- Monitoring technology should be standards-based. HMSA chose to
adhere to industry standards such as Simple Network Monitoring Protocol
(SNMP) in order to simplify setup and installation and to avoid
getting locked into one vendor’s solution. Because SNMP is
supported by almost all hardware and software vendors, monitoring
a
heterogeneous environment composed of many products is greatly simplified.
- Monitoring technology should be automation driven rather than
consulting or manpower intensive. Expending costly and valuable
IT resources on long-term enterprise software projects has proven
risky and expensive
- Data center operations should be viewed as a business process.
IT departments tend to look at monitoring technology as something
that displays trending graphs and sends alarms when there are network
problems.
- Monitoring technology with simple license terms is preferable
to products with many add-on or hidden modules. To control the costs
of a monitoring implementation, a company needs visibility of up
to five or 10 years of ongoing maintenance costs. Many enterprise
software vendors’ products are composed of many modules and
components that have separate pricing models and require different
training and
support. HMSA believes that products with a number of components
tend to be more expensive and complex to maintain over time.
We evaluated more than 15 vendors against these best practices and
found that CITTIO’s WatchTower monitoring platform was the
closest fit. Equipped with WatchTower and our strong best practice
approach, we successfully deployed enterprise-class system and network
monitoring on 500 servers and network devices in a timely and cost-effective
manner. Moreover, we are gaining the complete system
control and network visibility our large, complex organization requires.
www.cittio.com
Web Site = http://www.cittio.com
Contact Details
= 80 Tehama St. San Francisco, CA 94117
415-222-5444
sales@cittio.com
2012
