Networking monitoring: Not enough to prevent outages

Unexpected outages and disruptions can happen at any time. This is why there is no shortage of measures businesses should take to prevent power interruptions and minimize downtime in the event one does occur.

Networks are rapidly growing and becoming more complex. As they do, it is posing significant challenges and changes for data center managers and administrators. For example, research conducted by Dimensional Research recently revealed that as networks increase in complexity, the number of outages also rise.

Forty-five percent of survey respondents attribute outages to human error. However, the source added, also contributing to the problem is that many of the networking monitoring tools used by organizations are not doing an effective job detecting or preventing incidents.

Furthermore, separate research related by Retail Week found that approximately 40 percent of businesses do not analyze the cause of supply chain disruptions, indicating a problematic and potentially dangerous level of both unawareness and unpreparedness.

Disaster-ready data centers
Given the amount of security breaches, unplanned disasters and power interruptions that can occur within data centers today, network administrators have a responsibility to be proactive in their approach to data center monitoring and management. Those who treat it as an afterthought or anything less than a critical business priority make themselves more vulnerable to extended periods of downtime, putting them at a greater risk for losing critical business data, damaging equipment and hurting revenue streams.

In fact, Retail Week reported that about 60 percent of supply chain disruptions could be attributed to unplanned IT and telecommunications power outages.

Disaster recovery planning plays a pivotal role in business continuity. When organizations can't rely on network monitoring tools to detect a disruption or they lack the resources needed to properly analyze the source of an outage, there's no choice but to double down on power interruption protection methods.

The power to recover
Cloud computing, IT storage and other network management technology is advancing at a rapid rate. Many businesses are in a state of transition, adopting new and more sophisticated tools, systems and processes. As these changes occur, it is essential for organizations to ensure they adapt their data centers in tandem. This means not only making sure the proper tools and resources are in place to securely store data, but the reliable backup systems that prevent outages from occurring in the first place. 

Upgrading to a modern UPS system can help data center managers ensure they have the necessary power supply – even during times of disruptions or outages. 

To learn more about the power solutions that can help businesses maximize uptime and ensure consistent, peak network performance, download our whitepaper: