EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
It is no secret that IT is getting more complex , while at the same time , IT ’ s importance for the business grows . In return , it means problems with performance , availability , and security will immediately reflect on the business as a whole .
Traditionally , there are different teams within IT with different responsibilities , and they use different tools that are specialised for the tasks . There is nothing wrong with that approach , but maybe it is time to start thinking outside the box .
Anomalies can occur everywhere in an African organisation ’ s IT infrastructure . From the first moment tools spot an anomaly , it is not always clear what the root cause is . The issue : performance problems share symptoms with security incidents .
This is a stage where a lot of time is wasted simply trying to identify the resolver group , as most security solutions do not create baselines of how applications talk to each other or what amount of traffic is normal . It does make sense to allow security professionals to become familiar with the larger solution suites the operational teams use .
Modern observability solutions not only look into applications ; they also pay equal attention to any other layer of the most complex IT infrastructure . Such a solution allows all the different teams within the IT organisation to use the same data and features , reducing the time required for root cause analysis .
In fact , tool sprawl is a difficulty equal in gravity to failing technology . If a practitioner needs to jump between different tools just to find a specific metric to understand a situation , it will contribute to the loss of business revenue . Some situations might be so complex they require comparing data from various sources . Without a system that allows correlation , this could very well be a task for a full day .
It is difficult to bring everything together in a modern , distributed environment , but it has to be done . A proper solution helps reduce costs and can compensate for shrinking head counts .
It is difficult to bring everything together in a modern , distributed environment , but it has to be done . A proper solution helps reduce costs and can compensate for shrinking head counts . But , more importantly , it protects the value IT brings to the business . p
ABDUL REHMAN TARIQ BUTT , REGIONAL DIRECTOR MIDDLE
EAST , SOLARWINDS
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