Intelligent Automation solutions (built using IDP, Automation, ECM, and RPA technologies), require focused management practices and solutions. If you are operating in a hybrid cloud environment, there is even more need for an Intelligent Automation management solution given the growing complexity of the cloud and off-cloud components. They can cost anywhere from not so much to a whole lot. Some companies build their own management systems, and some choose purpose-built monitoring out of the box. Choosing to buy or build is where you face questions about the cost and issues regarding how long of an adoption period you’ll need to endure. Is your choice going to be cost-effective and easy to adopt? You want to answer this question before choosing whether to buy or build. This article will guide you through the issues affecting the costs and risks of buying or building your ECM monitoring solution.
In-House ECM Monitoring Build
A comprehensive monitoring system will allow hassle-free operation of business-critical processes and workflows that rely on ECM services. The issue is figuring out how the environment will be observed and managed and how the ECM system will provide context-sensitive IT and business management information. One option is to build your own ECM monitors in-house.
If this is your direction, it is essential to consider the costs before making a decision. More than likely, you’re already using infrastructure management tools offered by Splunk, NewRelic, Dynatrace, Azure Monitor, AWS CloudWatch, Solarwinds, Nagios, Zappo, etc. These monitoring tools are virtually indispensable for server management, network management, cloud services, etc. However, IT operations could face issues creating and sustaining effective monitors that provide deep visibility and context when dealing with automation solutions. So, let’s examine the specifics to assess the costs and risks of building in-house ECM monitoring rather than buying a purpose-built solution. By avoiding these complexities, you can feel relieved and confident in your decision.
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The Intelligent Automation Management Gap
When making decisions about monitoring solutions, consider the following four items: the development knowledge gap and costs, development time and effort, ongoing maintenance and updates, and scalability and risk challenges.
1) Development Knowledge Gap and Costs
If you choose to build your monitoring system, then you must be prepared to invest heavily in development resources. You will need skilled developers familiar with ECM system architecture who can design and implement a system that monitors functionalities. Salaries, benefits, recruitment expenses, and the necessary hardware and software infrastructure all go into this assessment.
So, it’s not just creating the software; it’s also having a staff capable of building and maintaining the monitors. Knowledge of ECM systems is a specialization, and monitoring requires knowledge of best practices. In addition to having the right personnel, you’ll also need training programs to keep IT staff updated with ECM platform technologies, monitoring techniques, and emerging industry trends.
2) Development Time and Effort
The complexity and scale of the monitoring system can vary, but in most cases, the development period is several months to over a year. Here are the requirements for building an effective monitoring system for ECM:
Acquisition of necessary tools:
- Obtain Software Development Kit(s) (SDK) for each ECM platform.
- Develop or obtain developer knowledge of SDK(s) for each ECM platform.
Planning and knowledge development:
- Develop a detailed project plan outlining each phase of the development process.
- Gain or improve developer-level understanding of the ECM platform stack, including its interfaces and operational behavior.
Project management and team coordination:
- Assign a project manager to oversee the development lifecycle and ensure milestones are met.
Design and development phase:
- Design, build, and perform Quality Assurance (QA) on various components, including:
- Tests to validate functionality.
- Monitors for tracking system performance.
- Conditions/thresholds to set operational benchmarks.
- User-friendly displays and dashboards for real-time monitoring.
- Comprehensive reports for analysis and decision-making.
- Remediations/automation for proactive system management.
- Notifications to keep relevant stakeholders informed.
Implementation and integration:
- Seamlessly integrate the developed system into the existing ECM environment.
- Move through a DevOps process to transition the system to a production state, ensuring continuous integration and deployment.
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3) Ongoing Maintenance and Updates
Maintenance and updates are necessary to keep monitoring systems running efficiently and aligned with changing ECM systems and organizational requirements. These practices necessitate employing resources to monitor the monitors, fix issues, and introduce enhancements. This level of labor can strain IT budgets and divert personnel from core business activities. ECM monitoring must stay up to speed with maintenance needs and required updates. ECM applications need updates with new feature capabilities, API interfaces, and expanded platform support (such as OS, databases, and application services), and hypervisor support. If you fall behind, you leave yourself open to intrusions due to the potential security gaps you could create.
4) Scalability and Risk Challenges
Digital transformation initiatives, scalability, and adaptability must be included in the equation because your ECM needs will evolve as you grow. Flexibility is needed to adapt to changing circumstances, including support for intelligent automation technologies like RPA.
The development cost, deployment time, ongoing maintenance, and architecture flexibility increase the risk profile of a custom ECM monitoring solution compared to a proven ‘off-the-shelf’ solution.
The modifications needed for scaling can be complex and costly. New features must be added, integration capabilities with other systems must be developed, and accommodation for increased user demands will require development efforts and resources. Development costs, the time needed to deploy, ongoing maintenance requirements, and the need for architecture flexibility increase the risks associated with custom ECM monitoring solutions instead of proven ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions.
Conclusion
Building in-house monitoring systems may give you organizational control, but significant costs and risks exist. Development costs must be factored in, time and effort must be assessed, maintenance will be needed, security risks will be a concern, and scalability must be included in the decision-making. The effort required to run an effective ECM monitoring system will seriously challenge any organization. However, you can feel relieved knowing that there are ECM monitoring tools that will streamline your process, reduce manual intervention, schedule pre-built tests, and automate problem resolutions—right out of the box.
The risks and costs of building ECM monitoring systems in-house are significant and cannot be overlooked. Before taking on this task, carefully consider the available solutions. There are excellent, ready-to-use solutions that can alleviate the concerns that may arise if you choose to build your own.
