Network Monitoring challenges: Gaining visibility
In today’s ever-growing, hyper-connected world, maintaining the stability, security, and performance of large, geographically distributed networks is more challenging than ever. Without real-time visibility into the health of network devices like switches, routers, and firewalls, IT teams struggle to identify and address potential bottlenecks or vulnerabilities. This blog post explores the common challenges faced by network infrastructure teams, security teams, and IT operations managers, and why proactive management through real-time network monitoring is crucial.
The Problem: Lack of Real-Time Visibility
- Network Infrastructure Teams: Network infrastructure teams are responsible for ensuring that the network is always available and performing optimally. However, without real-time visibility, they often face increased downtime, operational inefficiencies, and higher costs due to emergency repairs. This not only highlights the significant financial impact of unplanned downtime – up to $500,000 per hour according to Splunk – but also positions the IT department as a cost centre rather than a driver of innovation and ROI. By constantly dealing with emergencies and inefficiencies, IT teams are unable to focus on strategic initiatives that could bring value and competitive advantage to the business.
- Security Teams: For security teams, maintaining robust network security across a large, distributed infrastructure is more challenging than ever. Without real-time visibility into network devices, it’s difficult to detect vulnerabilities and respond to incidents promptly. This lack of visibility increases the risk of security breaches and non-compliance with regulatory standards, such as the SOCI Act.
- IT Operations Managers: IT operations managers are tasked with maintaining continuous service availability and optimising IT operations. Frequent downtime and resource constraints can hinder their ability to manage a complex infrastructure effectively. Service disruptions and inefficient resource management can lead to increased operational costs and reduced business continuity.
Sector-Specific Challenges:
For some sectors, including multinationals, telcos, and utilities, these challenges become even more critical. The risk of disruption to mission-critical services can result in serious organisational damage. These challenges are apparent because these sectors operate on geographically dispersed network infrastructure while also facing complex business drivers, such as legacy systems or legislation that subjects them to public scrutiny. Whether it’s a utilities provider ensuring service availability, a financial institution safeguarding sensitive data, or a telecommunications company maintaining service uptime, the stakes are high. Network issues can lead to significant business impacts, including operational inefficiencies, financial losses, and reputational damage.
Let’s dive deeper into these challenges:
Telecommunications Sector:
- Network Congestion: High traffic volumes can lead to slow internet speeds, dropped calls, and buffering during peak usage times.
- Service Interruptions: Unplanned outages and system failures can disrupt customer experience and productivity.
- Security Vulnerabilities: Inadequate security measures can leave networks exposed to cyber threats like data breaches and malware attacks.
- Detection of Hidden Issues: Slowly negative trending network health metrics can go unnoticed without real-time monitoring.
Utilities Sector:
- Aging Infrastructure: Many utilities operate with outdated equipment, making it difficult to maintain reliable service and increasing the risk of failures.
- Unpredictable Demand: Fluctuations in demand, especially with the rise of electric vehicles and data centres, can strain the network.
- Communication Challenges: Ensuring reliable communication across vast service areas can be difficult without robust network monitoring.
Financial Services Sector:
- Compliance Issues: Financial institutions must adhere to strict regulations, and without proper monitoring, they may struggle to meet these requirements.
- Cybersecurity Threats: The financial sector is a prime target for cyberattacks, including phishing, ransomware, and data breaches. Outdated and vulnerable network hardware can be detected.
- Data Management: Handling large volumes of sensitive financial data can be challenging without effective monitoring and management tools.
Healthcare Sector:
- Patient Data Security: Healthcare providers must protect sensitive patient data, and any breach can have severe consequences.
- Operational Continuity: Network issues can directly impact patient care, making real-time monitoring crucial for maintaining service continuity.
- Regulatory Compliance: Healthcare organisations must comply with regulations like the Privacy Act 1988 and the My Health Records Act 2012, which mandate strict data security and privacy standards.
E-commerce Sector:
- Transaction Reliability: E-commerce platforms need to ensure that online transactions are processed smoothly without interruptions.
- Customer Experience: Network disruptions can lead to poor customer experiences, affecting sales and brand reputation.
- Data Security: Protecting customer data is paramount, and any breach can result in significant financial and reputational damage. Compliance with regulations like the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and Privacy Act 1988 is essential.
The Impact: Operational Inefficiencies and Increased Costs
According to the State of Observability Report 2024, less than a quarter (24%) of organisations can correlate all or almost all their data across their application environment. This lack of visibility is exacerbated by the sprawl of business applications across public cloud, on-premises, and hybrid infrastructures. Additionally, only 26% of organisations class their visibility as ‘excellent’ over network infrastructure not owned or operated by them, highlighting the ongoing challenge of gaining comprehensive insights.
Without real-time insights, organisations face several challenges:
Increased Downtime
Lack of visibility leads to longer resolution times for network issues, resulting in increased downtime.
Operational Inefficiencies
Teams struggle to identify and address potential bottlenecks or vulnerabilities, leading to inefficiencies.
Higher Costs
Emergency repairs and unplanned downtime can significantly increase operational costs.
The Benefits of Real-Time Network Monitoring:
According to Splunk, organisations that implement real-time network monitoring experience a 50% reduction in mean time to resolution (MTTR) and a 30% improvement in overall network performance.
Implementing real-time network monitoring offers several key benefits across security and operations including:
- Proactive Issue Detection: Real-time monitoring tools provide immediate insights into network health, allowing teams to detect and resolve issues before they escalate.
- Enhanced Security: Continuous monitoring helps identify and mitigate security threats, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
- Improved Efficiency: By automating routine tasks and providing actionable insights, real-time monitoring optimizes resource allocation and reduces workload.
- Cost Savings: Preventing downtime and reducing the need for emergency repairs can lead to significant cost savings.
- Scalability: Real-time monitoring solutions can easily scale with the growth of the network, ensuring consistent performance and reliability.
- Compliance: Real-Time Network Monitoring support obligations under the Security of Critical Infrastructure (SOCI) Act by providing continuous visibility into network performance and security, enabling quick detection and response to cyber threats. These tools help maintain accurate records for compliance, enhance risk management and resilience, and generate necessary compliance reports. This ensures organisations can meet the SOCI Act’s requirements, protect critical infrastructure, and maintain operational continuity even during disruptions. Sectors that need to adhere to the SOCI Act include energy, water, communications, and financial services to ensure the security and resilience of critical infrastructure.
The Need for Real-Time Network Monitoring
Real-time network monitoring is crucial for proactively managing networks, ensuring seamless operations, and robust protection against threats. In the next blog post, we will explore how real-time network monitoring can address these challenges and provide a comprehensive solution.
Ready to learn how real-time network monitoring can transform your network management? Jump to our next blog post, How Real-Time network monitoring Can Transform Your Network Management, where we dive into the solutions and benefits of implementing this powerful tool. Or, to hear it from our team – schedule a demo.
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Real-time network monitoring is a game-changer for network infrastructure teams, security teams, and IT operations managers looking to proactively manage their networks. By providing immediate insights, enhancing security posture, and optimising IT operations, Splunk Observability empowers organisations to proactively manage their networks and ensure seamless operations.
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