Skip the navigation
Opinion

IT Needs Help Finding Root Causes

By Jian Zhen
August 15, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Ever stay awake at night wondering about the cost of network downtime? In 2004, Infonetics Research put that figure at 3.6% of a company's annual revenue. After studying more than 80 large corporations, Infonetics found that companies experience an average of 501 hours of network downtime per year. That number translated into millions of dollars in lost productivity and revenue, and it hasn't gotten any better in the intervening months.
On top of the money they've lost, companies invest millions of dollars each year in various technologies to attempt to solve IT infrastructure problems more quickly. They are, however, no closer to the Holy Grail of automated root-cause analysis and problem resolution.
In order to understand why that's the case, it's necessary to understand the five steps in the IT problem management process.
1. Detection. The ability to know what's happening in your infrastructure is a crucial first step in managing problems.
Most of the new technologies we have seen in this area in the past five to 10 years have been designed for detection. Network management systems such as IBM Tivoli, HP OpenView, CA Unicenter and many others were first designed to monitor the enterprise infrastructure by polling network devices and servers periodically. If the polling fails a predetermined number of times, a problem is detected, and an alert is sent to the administrators. In the security world, network and host intrusion-detection systems have been developed to identify problems on the network and servers. None of those technologies, however, can tell you where the problem is or what caused it.
2. Identification. After a problem has been detected, IT administrators must spend a lot of their time identifying where it actually occurred. These IT administrators either use the most basic network tools, such as ping and traceroute, simply rely on domain knowledge of their own networks or analyze network traffic using sniffers to locate the problem.
Products such as EMC Smarts are designed to accelerate identification. Smarts starts by mapping out an infrastructure using various automated tools as well as human knowledge. The mapping will identify, for example, which switch ports are connected or which servers are behind an individual router or switch. Once the mapping is complete, Smarts uses its proprietary Codebook Correlation Technology, SNMP traps and logs messages from routers, switches and servers to identify where the problem might have occurred.
3. Determination. Even though some of these newer technologies help IT administrators identify where the problem might be, they are still very limited in determining the



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Networking White Papers
Digital Transformation: Creating New Business Models Where Digital Meets Physical
Individuals and businesses alike are embracing the digital revolution. Social networks and digital devices are being used to engage government, businesses and civil...
Make the Connection: Better Network Connectivity Drives Transformation
Network connectivity is more than just plumbing. Leading organizations today see high-performance network connectivity as a critical enabler of competitive advantage, and not...
Virtualizing Government Infrastructure
All server virtualization solutions are not created equal. The more-with-less agenda for government agencies is tailor-made for server virtualization, which is evolving into...
Moving Service Management to SaaS
Today, organizations can enjoy similarly substantial benefi ts by migrating their IT service management functions to a software-as-a-service model. This paper shows how...
Achieving 360 Degree Network Visibility with Nimsoft
360° network visibility is critical for ensuring continuous availability of networks, servers, and applications-anything less could
have costly bottom-line implications.
All Networking White Papers
Networking Webcasts
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Unified Communications 101
What's the best way to implement a unified communications solution for your organization?
Try the OptiView® XG on your network - FREE
The OptiView® XG is the first dedicated tablet with automated network and application analysis -- fastest way to root cause. XG raises the...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
All Networking Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs