A small issue in a company’s database or network can hamper service availability. Business organizations are compelled to introduce better monitoring systems. New-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are playing a key role in creating robust monitoring tools. The recent remote work culture is also demanding better monitoring systems. Among all the solutions in the market, Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) has proved most beneficial for processes like NOC support and incident management.

Understanding NOC support

Network is the heart of any IT infrastructure and it helps businesses enhance internal and external communication. The network helps companies store and share business data. To drive the performance of an IT network, regular monitoring is required. Issues within the company network need to be fixed for enhancing service availability. Network Operations Center (NOC) is a remote place where IT teams can support companies to monitor their networks. Usually, IT teams in a NOC use Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) to troubleshoot the network issues.

NOCs help enhance the security of network systems. Disastrous events within the company network can cause delays in business processes which ultimately hampers the service reliability. NOCs provide real-time network monitoring and help large organizations with capacity planning. A company can enhance visibility into all components of its infrastructure with the help of NOC. A specialized NOC software is mounted on the central server for monitoring the networking systems. All other network devices connect to the central server which is monitored by NOC teams. Remote access tools are also installed which further help NOC teams in RMM.

Challenges with NOC support in 2021

The IT infrastructure of large organizations is more complex than ever. Also, companies must adjust their IT infrastructure according to the economic conditions and work cultures. For example, infra management turned out to be even more challenging during the remote work culture enforced by the COVID pandemic. Managing infrastructure issues for large organizations is becoming increasingly difficult for NOC teams. If infrastructure issues are not fixed on time, it can lead to project delays and business discontinuity.

Another challenge is the cost incurred in establishing effective NOC support. Establishing real-time NOC support for a large organization will require more funds. The legacy monitoring tools do not apply for NOC support in today’s era. Businesses need a real-time monitoring solution that could provide NOC teams visibility into the IT infrastructure. Businesses are looking for several things in a monitoring system to survive in today’s digital era. Things to look for in an enterprise solution are monitoring, analytics, and automation. Traditional NOC tools cannot handle the complexity of networking systems in today’s era. It is where AIOps based analytics platforms come in.

How AIOps enhance the NOC support?

AIOps tools are known to provide real-time monitoring support. NOC teams can gain visibility into all aspects of the IT infrastructure with AIOps tools. An AIOps based analytics platform can bring the company together by connecting all the networking and software systems. AIOps also helps in developing virtual desktop infrastructure solutions that could help IT teams with remote monitoring.

Some of the benefits of using AIOps for NOC support are as follows:

• Companies distribute and store data across several networks. If any one of the networks stops functioning, the data needs to be protected. NOC support is responsible for creating backups of data on different networks. An AIOps based analytics platform will collect all types of data from different networks and use it for further analysis. NOC teams do not have to manually create backups for the company data by using an AIOps based analytics platform.
• NOC support is involved in patch management by making sure all your devices and software systems are updated. With an AIOps based analytics platform, you can gain visibility into all your software systems. This can help determine the best time to update software systems without disturbing service availability.
• You can troubleshoot networking errors without bringing the whole network down. AIOps can help in uncovering the interdependencies between networking systems in an organization. Before troubleshooting any software connected to the network, you will know which other systems will be affected.
• NOC support is responsible for placing antivirus software in the organization for protecting the IT network. However, the taxonomy of cyberattacks is increasing every day. Cyberattacks are more sophisticated than ever and are a big challenge for NOC teams. When a new type of cyberattack is launched on a company, it creates a sense of panic among the IT teams. With an AIOps based analytics platform, you can quickly identify the root cause of any network attack. AI-driven root cause analysis can help NOC teams fix issues quickly.
• Capacity management is one of the key responsibilities of NOC teams. An AIOps based analytics platform can predict the exhaustive capacity of different networking systems in your organization. If a networking system is about to exhaust or fail, you will know about it in advance with an AIOps based analytics platform.

Uncertain workforce fluctuation and unpredictable network behaviour are the biggest challenges for companies at present. While NOC teams can remotely manage their infrastructure, they still cannot cope with the increased complexity. AIOps platforms can make NOC teams more productive with high-end analytics and real-time alerts. Also, the costs incurred for network monitoring can be slashed with AIOps.

As more and more companies virtualize NOC with AIOps based analytics platforms, handling networking monitoring processes remotely will continue to get easier.