Even though observability tools are widely used, only one third of businesses can consistently spot and correct network problems before they impact their business. It’s one of the results from new research conducted by EMA(Enterprise Management Associates), commissioned and approved by NS1.
The report, ‘Network Observability: Delivering Actionable Insights to Network Operations,’ would show that network monitoring and observability solutions are being widely used by Networking teams and executives, in large part due to the requirement to monitor the public cloud and edge infrastructure. However, networking teams aren’t entirely pleased, and they’re not getting the useful information they require. A mere one-fourth of the respondents said they had used these tools successfully. Another 84.8% stated that they were unable to find every issue before it affects their business.
The EMA study included both quantitative and qualitative interviews with knowledgeable stakeholders to define network observability and provide readers a clearer picture of the market’s present state.
“Specificity is the best remedy for the marketing whiplash that IT professionals have experienced when trying to understand the idea of network observability,” said Shamus McGillicuddy, Vice president of Research, Network Management, EMA “EMA believes it is critical to define network observability for IT buyers, so they and their vendors can effectively communicate with each other about emerging network operations requirements and the innovations that vendors offer to address those requirements.”
The study describes network observation as an automated network monitoring system that collects all relevant network data. This allows for deep insight and visibility into network conditions. Some of the actionable insights include network performance, app performance, network security and user experience.
Data Collection Grows – The Ability to Use It Falters
In the study, a common theme is that data is being collected at an ever greater scale. According to respondents, they now have more data than ever but struggle with storing it or analysing it.
The following are additional results:
- Over 85% of respondents claim that the recent rises in data collection were driven in part by necessity.
- Storage problems, poor visibility and storage issues are two of the challenges that come with increased data volumes. Data storage is a major problem for 43.5%. Data storage is a major problem for 43.5% of responders. This means that network teams are unable to extract useful insight from 53% false network tool alarms.
- These weaknesses would be a problem for maintaining networks; 84.8% respondents stated that they cannot identify every network issue before it occurs.
Problems can arise from conflicts between tools
As practitioners manage more complicated networks, they don’t have time to sift through analysis in search of knowledge. A vast array of tools would make it difficult for them to work together, even though they need information immediately from the network’s observability tools in order to take corrective action. This problem is not well understood, but it would be there.
The following are additional results:
- Insights into the causes of network problems and performance are top priorities. However, four out of five people say they are not completely pleased with their tools’ capacity to get insights.
- 54% claim they need to be customized in order for new tools and systems to work. Many people claim however that customization comes with higher prices.
- These flaws have a significant negative effect on the firm; 88.8% of respondents claim they can’t fix every problem before it affects the organization, and 84.8% claim they can’t find every problem in the first place.
“We’ve seen these findings reflected in our work with operations teams over the last decade,” said Shannon Weyrick is Vice President of Research NS1. “We consistently hear that success requires the ability to separate the signal from the noise, and obtain actionable insight quickly and at scale. These challenges have inspired our work, both in our enterprise solutions and on open source projects like Orb, as we strive to provide real-time network analytics at the edge.”
The report ‘Network Observability: Delivering Actionable Insights to Network Operations’ can be downloaded Here.
The full article is available here Here
