How to choose the right IT supervision solution?

6 key points for choosing your supervision

Supervision is an essential element in guaranteeing the smooth running and availability of a company's information system. Choosing the right monitoring solution is therefore crucial.

However, the sheer number of products on offer makes it difficult for CIOs and technical teams to find a monitoring solution that will give them a clear, accurate and up-to-date picture of their IT infrastructure.

In this guide, we present 6 key points to bear in mind when selecting your monitoring solution.

1- Granular readability: from the macro to the micro level

An effective monitoring solution must provide clarity for both management (C-level) and operational teams. It must enable them to move from an overall view of the infrastructure to a detailed view of individual elements. In this way, decision-makers will have a strategic view of the information system, while operational teams will be able to quickly identify specific problems.

2- Taking into account the challenges of different profiles

It is essential that the monitoring solution takes into account the specific challenges of the different profiles within the company. This includes aspects related to infrastructure (inventory, dependencies, uplinks, etc.), user support (alerts, bandwidth, resource consumption, etc.), business applications (application chains, webservices, etc.) and security. A holistic solution that covers these different areas will meet the needs of every profile.

3- Controlling TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)

When choosing a monitoring solution, it's important to consider the total cost of ownership. This includes the time and resources required to deploy, maintain and upgrade the solution. Licensing costs must also be taken into account, depending on the size of the infrastructure supervised, the scope of supervision and the number of users. Hardware costs such as servers and hosting must also be taken into account. A thorough TCO analysis will enable you to assess the long-term profitability of the solution.

4- Agile, transparent evolution

A supervision solution must be able to keep pace with the evolution of the information system in real time. Whether it's adding new assets, integrating new applications or extending to new sites, the chosen solution must be flexible and enable real-time updating of the system's mapping. Visio diagrams or traditional mapping solutions that require manual updates are obsolete as soon as they are produced, and make troubleshooting laborious. Opt for an automated solution that facilitates change management.

5- Customized views

Every company and department has its own specific supervision requirements. So it's essential that the solution you choose offers customization capabilities. You should be able to create specific views tailored to your company's needs, as well as to each department. Granular customization will enable you to choose what to monitor, and exclude certain sub-networks if necessary. Make sure the solution offers this flexibility to meet your organization's specific needs.

6- Secure data access

Data security is a crucial aspect of any monitoring solution. Make sure that the solution offers guarantees in terms of data hosting, whether online or offline. It's important to check that the solution complies with current regulations, and that it offers the possibility of accessing data in the event of a network outage, so as not to depend entirely on the system being supervised. Solutions based on the SaaS (Software as a Service) model can offer enhanced security. In addition, read-only access ensures that data cannot be accidentally altered.

Choosing the right monitoring solution is essential to ensure the availability and performance of your information system. By taking into account the points mentioned in this guide, you'll be able to select the right solution for every profile within your company. Take a holistic approach, taking into account the specific needs of your infrastructure, user support, applications, security and customization. By investing in the right monitoring solution, you'll benefit from a long-term return on investment through improved system availability, enhanced user experience and easier collaboration.