5 tips to note when monitoring your IT Systems

Introduction

In my work helping clients build a better managed IT Service, I notice several challenges.?One of the basic ones is having visibility into IT systems.?When you cannot see, you cannot measure and so you cannot manage.?I have heard the statement "we only have very few issues", and as soon as we deploy tools the event breaches jump 100 fold.

As an IT professional, you know that monitoring your systems is critical to gain visibility and keeping them running smoothly. But with so many different tools and technologies available, it can be difficult to know where to start. In this blog post, we'll explore five tips to monitor your IT systems, and from basic monitoring tools to more advanced solutions. We'll also provide some tips on how to get the most out of your monitoring efforts.??

The benefits of monitoring your IT systems

Monitoring your IT systems can provide many benefits, including early detection of problems, improved performance, and reduced downtime. By monitoring your systems, you can identify potential issues before they cause major problems. This can help you avoid costly downtime and keep your systems running smoothly. Additionally, monitoring your IT systems can help you improve performance by identifying areas that need attention.?If you don't monitor, you cannot measure.?Your ability to automate and introduce AIOPs depends on a wholistic approach to monitoring your IT systems.?

Another benefit of monitoring your IT systems is that you can improve your overall security posture. By keeping an eye on your systems, you can quickly identify any potential security threats and take steps to mitigate them. This can help protect your data and keep your business running smoothly.

Finally, by monitoring your IT systems, you can gain valuable insights into how they are being used. This information can help you optimize your systems for better performance and efficiency.

Best practices for monitoring your IT systems

When it comes to monitoring your IT systems, there are a few best practices that you should follow in order to ensure that everything is running smoothly.?

1. Use a central monitoring system: A central monitoring system gives you a single place to track all the activity on your devices and data. This makes it easier to identify issues and take action quickly.

2. Establish thresholds: By setting thresholds for each metric, you can know when something is out of the ordinary and needs further investigation.

3. Have a response plan: Having a plan in place for responding to incidents helps you minimize the impact of any downtime or other disruptions.

4. Use automation: Automation can help you keep track of your systems more easily and take action more quickly when problems arise.

5. Review regularly: Reviewing your monitoring process on a regular basis helps ensure that it is effective and helps you make improvements as needed.

By following these best practices, you can be sure that your IT systems are being monitored effectively and that you are prepared to deal with any issues that may come up.

Include Self-heal into your system always

Self-healing is a type of automation that can be used to detect and fix problems in a system without human intervention. It can be used to fix software bugs, configuration issues, and other problems. Self-healing systems are often designed to be self-contained, so they can continue to function even if parts of the system fail. AIOPs can be used to create self-healing systems. Kyndryl bridge is a?type of AI-powered self-healing system.?

Tools you can use to monitor your IT systems

There are many tools that you can use to monitor your IT systems. Some of these tools are designed for specific platforms, while others are more general purpose.

System monitors can be used to track various aspects of your system's performance. This includes CPU usage, memory usage, disk activity, network traffic, and more. By tracking this information, you can identify bottlenecks and potential problems.

Log files provide a wealth of information about what is happening on your system. By analyzing these files, you can often track down issues that would otherwise be difficult to find.

Performance counters are another way to track how your system is performing. These counters can provide detailed information about various aspects of your system, including CPU utilization, disk activity, network traffic, and more.

Tools like New Relic, AppDynamics and Dynatrace provide visibility into your application and monitor the complete stack, while Mordern applications can be comprised of different components like database servers and web servers. Any issues with any one of these components will cause the application to fail or become slow. These tools help eliminate such issues by providing visibility into the scale.

Conclusion

This blog is not meant to be a complex and detailed to help you make out an architecture for your systems. I can help you with that if you wish. You can write to me.

IT systems are critical for businesses of all sizes. By monitoring your IT systems, you can ensure that they are running smoothly and efficiently. By using the tips in this article, you can easily keep track of your IT systems and make sure that they are running as they should be.?

There are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to monitoring your IT systems, but these five tips should help you get started. By keeping an eye on your system performance, capacity, and security, you can avoid potential problems down the road. And if something does go wrong, you'll be in a much better position to fix it quickly and efficiently.?