Network monitoring can be coined the “lifeblood” of digital operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly. It’s a critical function often overlooked until something goes wrong, in which case any resulting downtime can cost companies up to $1 million per hour. Every business today relies on the Internet for operations, and that’s why Internet Resilience is crucial for both customer, employee experience and operational efficiency.
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That said, while it remains the foundation, its role has been evolving within the digital landscape, especially since the pandemic. We’ve seen the Internet hold up under immense pressure – supporting unprecedented demands for video conferencing, streaming, and remote work – and we’ve also seen it falter: the Internet’s fragility was apparent in incidents like AWS’s trifecta of outages in December 2021 to the October ‘21 outage that took down Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and interrelated services.
Why Network Monitoring Can Be Complex
Gone are the days when everything operated on a business’s local network. Today, the Internet is the network, one that requires multiple grids, protocols, Isps, Backbone providers and subsea cables to work together, in milliseconds, to perform. For those that aren’t in the know, network monitoring – or Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM) – can sound unnervingly technical. But it’s actually very simple.
Imagine the network as analogous to the human vascular system, responsible for transporting essential data and ensuring connectivity across various organizational functions. Much like the human body relies on a healthy circulatory system, businesses depend on a robust network for data transfer, application performance and more. The network acts as the arteries and veins, delivering vital resources to where they are needed most. Monitoring this network health is therefore not merely advisable but imperative in today’s digital economy where user expectations for speed and reliability are higher than ever.
What can happen when it fails
Downtime, a slow-loading website or an unreliable application can significantly impact customer retention and satisfaction, as well as the bottom line. In fact, 59% of Fortune 500 companies endure a minimum of 1.6 hours of downtime each week, averaging a weekly cost ranging from $643,200 to $1,056,000. During major events like Amazon Prime Day or the Paris Olympics, these amounts can further skyrocket.
The customer experience is the product. If you have a poor user experience, you risk losing customers. Effective monitoring is not just about detecting issues; it’s about preempting them to safeguard business continuity and optimize performance. The foundation of any resilient digital ecosystem begins with comprehensive network monitoring. This function not only alerts businesses to potential blockages or inefficiencies but also empowers proactive decision-making and problem-solving. Without it, the entire operational framework—be it servers, applications, or customer interactions—can grind to a halt at the first sign of trouble.
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Taking a closer look at a network’s intricacies
The challenges inherent in network monitoring stem from the sheer complexity of modern IT infrastructures. Today’s networks span vast distances, incorporating diverse hardware from multiple vendors, interconnected through both internal and external pathways. Add to this the increasing reliance on cloud services, content delivery networks (CDNs), and the intricate interplay of security protocols, and it becomes clear why monitoring these networks is no simple task.
One of the primary hurdles faced by organizations is the scarcity of skilled network engineers. In recent discussions, I’ve emphasized the fact that the IT talent gap is complicating day-to-day operations and hindering the ability to implement and maintain effective monitoring strategies. It underscores the need for solutions – like artificial intelligence (AI) – that not only automate routine tasks but also provide actionable insights to bridge this expertise gap effectively.
Best Practices for Seamless Connectivity and Performance
Ensuring seamless connectivity requires a proactive approach that integrates proactive monitoring strategies and robust security protocols, further outlined below:
- End-User Perspective Monitoring: much like earthquake monitoring in seismically active regions, IT teams must monitor from the perspective of end users. By aligning monitoring efforts with user experience, organizations can pinpoint and address network issues specific to geographic locations or user groups, thereby minimizing disruptions and enhancing overall operational efficiency.
- Integration of Security: the network serves as the first line of defense against cyber threats. It protects sensitive data and maintains trust with customers. Comprehensive monitoring strategies should encompass not only performance metrics but also security incidents such as DDoS attacks, DNS hijacks, and other potential vulnerabilities. It is important to avoid crisis situations as exemplified by ChatGPT’s periodic outages of 2024 2024, which OpenAI has hinted may have resulted from a DDoS attack.
- Adaptability to Continuous Innovation: as technology evolves, so must the approach to network monitoring. Security threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, necessitating continuous innovation and adaptation in monitoring practices. It’s important to make sure your network monitoring can utilize AI to automate mundane tasks and enhance alerting systems, which will in turn reduce alert fatigue and improve response times in monitoring and observability.
By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and the best networking monitoring tools available, organizations can fortify their network infrastructures against disruptions, ensuring uninterrupted connectivity and optimal performance across all digital touchpoints. Implementing the best practices mentioned above, in tandem with embracing technological advancements, allows organizations to better mitigate risks, enhance operational resilience, and deliver superior user experiences. The path to seamless connectivity lies not in reactive troubleshooting but in proactive monitoring and adaptive response—fundamental elements in safeguarding the digital pulse of modern enterprises.
In essence, network monitoring isn’t just about watching for problems; it’s about foreseeing them and taking decisive action to maintain peak performance. As we continue to innovate and evolve in this field, the goal remains clear: to keep our digital arteries flowing freely and efficiently so businesses can thrive in an increasingly interconnected world and where latency is the new downtime. and external performance monitoring solutions, which sparked his interest in this space.
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