Your information technology (IT) infrastructure, from your servers to your equipment, generates logs based on routine events or user interactions. The storage of such large data sets is somewhat complex since it requires access to multiple servers either on-site or remotely. Mining these ever-increasing logs become an impossible task without the use of enterprise log management (ELM) capabilities which defines tasks like the information to store, how you index it and how long you want to retain it. ELM software also generates automated alerts and transmits the data so that your IT teams have easy access to manage and mine it for insight into performance.
Escalates Critical Needs
Your ELM can identify and escalate issues to your operations team which allow them to respond quickly to prevent loss or disruption of service. Without a log management protocol, it would be impossible to mine through tens of millions of activities to compare information and identify tasks that need to be escalated. It would also take time individually which would leave your company prone to cyber threats that would cause downtime or loss of personal consumer data.
Elevates Security Protocols
Larger enterprises often have both ELM and security information and event management (SIEM) protocols. Small and mid-size companies often only require an ELM security protocol because of the reduced number of logs to monitor.
While your security information and event management protocol are concerned with the overall health of a company’s infrastructure, ELM identifies singular events and inconsistencies that have simple solutions.
Quality Control
The number one solution for reputation management and customer retention is quality control of policy and procedures, which your enterprise logging management will ensure. Your operations team will also have the fundamental knowledge of ELM configuration to monitor controls, applications and system data feeds to prevent harmful activities.
When you have an ELM quality control policy in place, the technicians also understand the actions required so that consumers do not lose access to app functions. This will allow your IT department to separate logged data into escalated actions, activities you want to make inquiries and data that is not important to daily operations.
ELM Monitors System Integration of Legacy Apps
An ELM solution is only as good as its integration capabilities with your legacy system. The technology must also correlate with your normal system functions. You will also need to consider your workforce capabilities to ensure you have on staff the IT expertise to customize and integrate ELM tools to work with legacy apps.
Prioritizes Workflow
ELM software processes allow your support staff to prioritize the daily workflow. Your engineering team first will configure the ELM so that your operations staff get the right type of alerts. Your operations team then receives the alerts and takes the appropriate actions.
Because of the set monitoring protocols of the software tools, they know the difference between a failed employee password authentication and a hacker trying to force system access. In turn, your teams recognize the activities and prioritize the workflow response.
ELM also provides insight into suspicious transactions that identify problems with website malfunction, system glitches or application functioning. The ELM will flag these behaviors which your operations team will be able to prevent service outages from occurring. A good ELM will also quickly segregate viruses that affect partial operations instead of a full operation shutdown. With the combined skills of your DevOps team, you will be able to not only identify threats quicker but will decrease the number of hours it takes to problem solve which also reduces wasteful costs.
Possible Challenges
- Policy and deployment procedure are critical factors to consider. The more time you spend in the planning stage, the lesser the chance of an unsuccessful deployment. Understanding the rules as well as the appropriate steps to take to ensure proper usage.
- Scaling is also an issue since a major concern with log management is storage. A vital part of scaling is allowing your ELM to save sensitive data as well as transactions that need further assessment. This data will need to be processed and stored long-term. There must be a policy in place as to how you will store and protect data as it amasses.
An essential requirement for successfully deploying your ELM is system knowledge as well as how to integrate organizational need into the same language. If your IT team lacks the fundamental skills of how the ELM system generates data, it will be difficult to translate your normal business function into a workable interface that fully monitors and logs the data.