Here’s a Little-Known Way to Understand NOC Performance Metrics
Enterprises charge NOCs with one of their most important operational tasks: managing their networks and maintaining uptime. If they fail to perform, the results can be disastrous. Firms may lose customers, revenue and even the ability to operate at all – all significant hits to their bottom line.
Top NOCs provide frameworks and metrics that enterprises can use to evaluate their performance and improve customer satisfaction. They typically do this via one or more of the following nested methods:
- SLAs: NOCs may set out minimum standards in their service level agreements (SLAs) and tell enterprises precisely what they can expect from their IT Managed Services. SLAs define performance measures and include clauses that permit the enterprise to take action if the NOC does not meet them.
- SLMs: SLM – or Service Level Management – is a process that seeks to get all stakeholders to agree how the IT service the NOC provides should function. SLMs define and document the levels of service to be provided.
- SLOs: Service Level Objectives are the “meat” of the SLA. They set out things like response time for phone calls, perhaps specifying that calls must be answered in under five minutes.
- SLIs: Service Level Indicators are components of each SLO. They typically summarize each of the tasks involved in meeting the needs of the enterprise.
Metrics
NOCs provide multiple metrics designed to measure the quality of their service, both long term and in real time. These metrics form part of the SLA they sign with client enterprises.
Direct network performance metrics might include:
- Packet drops
- Latency between network nodes and endpoints
- Availability of applications
- Stability of neighbor paths and connections
- Power, rack space, cooling and backup monitoring
Management-related metrics or key performance indicators, could comprise:
- The number of tickets issued by the enterprise
- The severity of tickets issued to NOC managers
- The lead time on various services, such as automating network processes
- The age of network equipment
- The pace of refreshment or upgrades
- The current status of network documentation
- Mean time to repair across various failure classes
In general, the more metrics, the better. Rarely do one or two metrics tell enough of a story about the overall quality and success of the NOC. Instead, enterprises need to be able to evaluate network operation centers across a broad set of measures.
Part of this process involves considering how SLOs break down into SLIs. SLOs may appear to indicate poor NOC performance overall. However, it could simply be the result of a single issue in one of the SLIs.
Suppose, for instance, that the SLO specifies a mean time to restore (MTTR) as a critical objective for the enterprise. MTTR comprises multiple indicators, each of which tells a NOC incident management story.
The indicators could be:
- Time taken to notify via email or other channels
- Time taken for impact assessment
- Time taken to notify the enterprise
- Response time for calls or text messages
- Acknowledgement time
- Ticket update frequency
Breaking down MTTR into several indicators allows enterprises to evaluate NOC performance in a more granular way. NOCs and firms can more easily identify issues in their current processes and correct them. They can also drive continual improvement because they know precisely how they are failing.
NOC performance metrics are also important for another reason: spotting automation opportunities. Thanks to machine learning and artificial intelligence, there are now tools that can step in and improve the metrics listed above. For instance, when an event occurs, a bot might immediately send an email or API update to the enterprise, alerting them to the issue.
What is KPI in Network Operations Center – NOC?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to measure performance against goals. KPIs are often used to evaluate how well a company is performing, and they are also used to determine whether a company is meeting expectations. A KPI is a measurement of something important to the organization. The goal of any business is to increase revenue, decrease costs, and meet customer needs.
What are some of the more common network performance metrics that are utilized?
Network Availability – How long does it take to get back up after a problem has occurred?
Service Level Agreement – What is the expected response time for service requests?
Performance Management – Is the network running efficiently?
Quality of Service – Is the network providing adequate bandwidth and speed to users?
Availability of Network Services – Do you have access to all the necessary applications?
Security – Are we protected from hackers and viruses?
Cost Savings – Can we reduce our monthly expenses by using less hardware?
How Can NOCs Improve?
Not all NOCs are the same. The best NOCs monitor and continuously improve their network performance. They discover what isn’t working and correct problems so that they do not recur in the future. They tend to align with existing IT teams, complementing their operations.
By contrast, poor-performing NOCs tend to operate a break-fix approach. They constantly put out fires without putting in place systems to prevent issues. They fail to standardize their network designs, which makes scaling their operations more challenging.
Fortunately, NOCs can improve by using relevant metrics as a management tool. Enterprises need to encourage this by:
- Regularly reviewing their SLAs with their NOC team
- Enquiring whether the SLA provides enough information to determine NOC performance
- Ensuring that the correct SLOs are in place (and that they contain metrics of concern to the enterprise)
- Finding out what projects the NOC is operating to improve SLM
- Insisting that the NOC adopt metrics that allow for a continual process of improvement
- Providing NOC dashboards
In summary, NOC-related metrics allow firms to measure their performance and compare providers. Top-ranking NOCs adopt a broad array of metrics and break them down into SLIs that enable them to identify process weaknesses and iterate.
