IT Service Continuity Management: Monitor

The most critical IT Resources should be monitored for availability as defined by the ITSM Availability Management process. Additional protection should be designed against major disasters and organizations should monitor vigorously that these protection mechanisms are enforced and working properly.

As a minimum, procedures should be in place to back up data and programs based on IT and user requirements. Organizations should define and implement procedures for backup and restoration of systems, data and documentation in line with business requirements and the continuity plan.

Log Intelligence solutions can monitor backup and restoration procedures and other ITSCM systems in real-time to validate its proper functioning. Log data reports and alerts are capable of extracting system records that validate when and if a backup was performed and if the backup is an exact copy of the original. TIBCO LogLogic can monitor systems to ensure that data backups are successfully accomplished on time and so that data restores are possible. They can also monitor and alert on when a data restore is completed successfully or unsuccessfully so that the integrity of backup data is retained in the event of a need to exercise a disaster recovery plan.

Log based warnings to monitor in real-time include:

  • Disk failure errors
  • Disk full notification messages
  • Backup errors
  • RAID errors