
How to build a strong business case for Enterprise Monitoring and Logging
If you, as an IT manager or CIO, are considering how to build a strong business case for enterprise monitoring and logging of system integrations, then this article should serve as inspiration and a resource.
Join us on this journey as we discuss and help outline the benefits of having end-to-end control of business message flows. We’ll outline how and why, based on existing enterprise implementations from Nodinite, a software tool for monitoring and logging of system integrations and an adjoining repository.
Making a Business Case for a Monitoring and Logging Tool
When you are about to make a business case for a monitoring and logging tool, it always begins with the “What?” In other words, what problems do we need to solve and what problems the tool can solve? In simplistic terms, if there is no ‘pain’, there is no acute need to solve a problem. Click here to get a definition of ‘business case’.
The first step is to research and identify all the problems or areas to improve. It could help to have a list of all business areas that are affected and will be improved.
Consider the following steps when making a case:
- Identify stakeholders of a monitoring and logging tool across the entire organization
- Specify needs and requirements from stakeholders
- Compile a list of alternative solutions to understand impact on results, people and competence, resources, and costs
- Calculate your business case in terms of a cost/benefit analysis as well as intangible outcomes
- Don’t forget to examine the impact of lifecycle costs from installation, implementation across the organization and operational maintenance
If a CIO is unable to adequately explain the business need for having a new monitoring and logging tool then a CEO or executive committee is unlikely to sign off on it.
Good to know: Monitoring and logging are vital for maintaining the smooth operation of businesses. They ensure the continuous availability, performance, and security of critical systems as well as the required resources to run them. Like – CPU, certificates, disk space, etc. Without these functions, organizations risk costly downtime, security breaches, and inefficiencies that can impact their bottom line.
An efficient tool translates into saving time, money, and valuable resources. A good business case should be able to demonstrate the savings and benefits in a meaningful way. They are then using the same language as executives in every other department of an organization.
Next we consider in more detail, how to build a strong business case for enterprise monitoring and logging of system integrations.
Enterprise Organizations Need to Monitor and Log their System Integrations
All large enterprise organizations and public institutions need to monitor and log their message flows across system integrations. This is because they can have anything from several hundred to several thousand different integrations.
For non-CIO’s these numbers might sound mind-boggling. How many integrations does an organization have? Well, the answer is, it varies.
Derome, a leader in Sweden’s timber business, is a useful real-life business case example. The company had lots of IT integrations that needed to be monitored. Derome implemented Nodinite and was able to find where a problem is located within 15 minutes. Previously the same task could have taken several hours.
To learn more, read the full Derome case study here.
Being able to quickly pinpoint where the issue lies is a great reason for acquiring a monitoring and logging tool. If the number of hours saved can be approximated and then quantified, then you have a useful business case starting point.
To sum up, large organizations, whether public or corporate, with their intricate networks and expansive operations, have unique demands when it comes to data management and monitoring. In an ever-integrated world, being able to monitor and log system integrations will become increasingly important.
Proactive Monitoring and Logging Prevents the Blame Game
An unfortunate issue that is all too common is the risk of a blame game between departments or vendors/suppliers. This happens if proactive monitoring and logging fails to detect where something goes wrong. Often fingers are then pointed towards the IT department.
If you are a CIO for a large organization and have experienced integration failure between technology platforms and services, then you know what we are talking about and how bad for morale it can be when everybody is angry.
Avoiding a potential blame game was something that Norway’s University of the Environment and Life Sciences (NMBU) considered when they settled for Nodinite for their BizTalk platform. The transparent alerts that NMBU receive also leave no doubt as to where an integration fails. This has helped the university avoid potential finger pointing.
Getting alerts informing when a system integration fails does not just save time and money, it should also help boost morale.
Free Up Resources with Role-Based Monitoring and Logging Across Departments
The ability to delegate role-based monitoring and logging to other internal departments is great for two reasons. The first is that empowers other teams and departments to have more control themselves. The second reason is that it free’s up valuable resources in the IT department.
No IT manager wants their best and brightest to spend time working on mundane IT support tickets when they can focus on critical IT projects. Imagine if a message failed to arrive after being sent from the sales department. If the sender receives an alert stating that the message failed, they can then try re-sending the message again before escalating the issue.
Besides this, data accessibility should be a fundamental requirement for organizations of all sizes, right? Sadly, this is not how it works for most software products today. Adding a new user usually means paying for another license.
Ensuring that data is available to everyone, regardless of their technical background, is the essence of data democratization. Fortunately, there are companies, such as Nodinite, who have their own pricing model.
At a Swedish HVAC the company’s sales team gained control of the order flow. In this organization 20-30 sales representatives were granted role-based access to Nodinite. The sales team could then use it to find specific orders, adjust inaccurate data and resend messages if needed.
This shows how Nodinite empowers teams from various backgrounds to seamlessly access and leverage data for more effective decision-making.
Are You Tired of Never Knowing How Much You Pay for IT Software?
As a CIO, it can be exhausting trying to estimate next year’s budget for IT software. This is because it is difficult to know how many user licenses and software solutions the organization will need to pay for.
Accurate budgeting is a critical concern for every CIO and for every organization. It helps greatly to have an enterprise monitoring and logging tool for system integrations at a set price. No matter how many users there are or how much data is used.
In this regard, Nodinite’s single pricing model is as simple as it is brilliant. This is because Nodinite charges for one license per customer, not per user. It provides a clear and predictable cost structure, empowering large organizations to plan their budgets with confidence and allocate resources efficiently.
According to Joakim Schutt, Consultant Manager at OmegaPoint, one of Nodinite’s many partners; “Who doesn’t want to get a Ferrari for the cost of a Volvo.”
Why a Turnkey Tool is Better than Building an In-House Solution
Getting control over business message flows is important to maintain smooth operations. A tool to monitor and log should have a strong ability to transform data into actionable insights.
Many IT teams prefer to program their own solution rather than purchase from an external vendor. One of the most popular arguments for doing this is that an in-house tool is cheaper than paying for someone else’s software. It can also be a fun and ambitious project for skilled in-house programmers.
The potential downsides to doing-it-yourself (DIY) solution are many:
- Software companies that sell logging and monitoring tools know their stuff. It’s what they do. They have years and years of experience and follow best practices in their development. It is difficult to expect to be able to match this.
- Even a DIY tool needs regular maintenance. That means allocating internal resources to check and regularly fix it.
- What happens when the creators retire or move on to other companies? Then the experts are gone with nobody around who understands how the tool works.
- Most large companies have their own horror stories of in-house solutions that have gone wrong.
In another interesting case, Luleå Tekniska Universitet (Luleå University of Technology or LTU) in Sweden faced the challenge of how to effectively integrate and monitor its Azure environment. Nodinite provided a solution, streamlining their Azure integration and ensuring the continuous availability and performance of their systems.
Transparent Data Improves Decision-Making and Understanding
Providing transparent data that is accessible to stakeholders helps improve decision-making and understanding within organizations. We live in a society where data is valuable and often a scarce resource.
For a CIO or head of an IT department it can only be an advantage if other parts of the business or organization understand what is going on and what they do. Knowledge is power as they say, and the same applies to being transparent with relevant data.
A good IT solution provides decision-makers with the tools to make informed choices. With the right insights, organizations can stay agile and responsive in the face of evolving market conditions.
Nodinite helped provide more transparent data for Boliden, one of the world’s largest mining and smelting companies with more than 40 applications and 400 integrations. Specifically, it created an efficient data flow to ensure that decision-makers had access to up-to-the-minute data and insights. This improved data flow resulted in a more agile and responsive decision-making process. It enabled the organization to adapt quickly to changing market conditions.
A Good Solution to Monitor and Log Business Message Transaction Should Make CIO’s Happier
Finally, how to build a strong business case for enterprise monitoring and logging of system integrations should include intangible benefits. Peace of mind is not an obvious argument yet a software solution for monitoring and logging of business message transactions across systems integrations should make any CIO happier and more at ease. CIOs have no shortage of responsibilities yet know that they have control of end-to-end business message flows between integration platforms should be one area that they don’t have to worry about.
A good tool for monitoring and logging doesn’t stop at just data insights; it goes further by enhancing the efficiency of your daily operations. By proactively monitoring systems and processes, it helps identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and potential issues, allowing you to streamline processes and reduce downtime. This, in turn, results in cost savings, improved customer satisfaction, and a more competitive edge in your industry.
Summary and Final Thoughts
To build a strong business case for enterprise monitoring and logging of business message flows across systems integrations requires determining where the pain is and then proceeding to build a case towards fixing it. Potential benefits include:
- Saving time by quickly finding where integrations fail
- Avoid finger pointing and a potential blame game
- Role-based monitoring with many users have two distinct advantages:
- Free up vital IT resources
- Empower other departments and teams who are stakeholders
- IT budgeting is easy and predictable with a tool to log and monitor that has a fixed cost per customer
- Turnkey software is better than a tool built in-house
- Transparent data improves decision-making and understand across the organization
Nodinite is not a platform but a strategic partner in your organization’s success. It’s the conduit that bridges the gap between data and outcomes, transforming your data management and monitoring practices from mere features to true business advantages.
Reach out to us to talk more about using Nodinite to gain all the above benefits. Click here to get in touch with us.
- Making a Business Case for a Monitoring and Logging Tool
- Enterprise Organizations Need to Monitor and Log their System Integrations
- Proactive Monitoring and Logging Prevents the Blame Game
- Free Up Resources with Role-Based Monitoring and Logging Across Departments
- Are You Tired of Never Knowing How Much You Pay for IT Software?
- Why a Turnkey Tool is Better than Building an In-House Solution
- Transparent Data Improves Decision-Making and Understanding
- A Good Solution to Monitor and Log Business Message Transaction Should Make CIO’s Happier
- Summary and Final Thoughts
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