Network topology describes how a network‘s nodes, connections, and devices physically arrange and interconnect, as well as how they communicate. The arrangement or configuration of a network’s components plays a crucial role in ensuring smooth ITOps with minimum downtime. Any issues in the network can disrupt operations, leading to potentially dire consequences. To prevent this, you need to understand your network functionality and structure.

Lack of communication between IT operations and ITSM teams results in data silos. And data silos make it challenging, if not impossible, to solve problems efficiently. One-third of ITOps professionals say that gathering business context is the biggest challenge to effective incident response and management, according to EMA Research.

The lines between IT service management (ITSM) and AIOps are blurring. The Gartner Hype Cycle for ITSM, 20241 discusses this exciting convergence. Traditionally, ITSM has focused on structured processes and best practices. AIOps brings valuable new capabilities to service management, including automation, correlation, machine learning, and real-time insights. This convergence augments established ITSM frameworks and processes rather than replace them.

Service operations (ServiceOps) is a technology-enabled approach that unifies IT operations and IT service (ITSM) teams and facilitates frictionless collaboration for more effective incident management. ServiceOps combines people, processes, and technology to improve visibility, workflows, and collaboration between otherwise siloed departments. Organizations of all sizes and industries worldwide have adopted ServiceOps.

In a previous post, we discussed initiating your AIOps journey. Now, we’re exploring best practices for progressing through each phase of the maturity journey. In these posts, we’ll focus on how to get started, proven techniques, key participants, and how to measure success.

As technology evolves, so does the language we use to describe it. Not surprisingly, IT operations have evolved dramatically since 2016. Given these changes and enhancements in artificial intelligence, the industry is overdue for an updated definition of AIOps platforms. AIOps isn’t going away, but we are changing some ways we talk about it. In the Gartner Hype Cycle for ITSM, 2024, Gartner announced new phrasing to describe the technology used in event management.

ServiceOps is a technology-enabled approach that unifies IT operations and IT service management (ITSM) teams to improve incident management. In a recent survey of more than 400 global IT leaders by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), 96% of respondents reported positive results from implementing the approach. Adoption rates are high: 75% have either an active effort or a formal initiative to streamline collaboration between ITSM and ITOps teams.

The complexity of modern IT environments and the volume of data they produce have increased by orders of magnitude. According to predictions from UBS, the data universe will grow by more than a factor of 10 — reaching 660 zettabytes — from 2020 to 2030. This explosive growth exceeds the abilities of legacy event-management tools and human operators. AIOps augments human activities within IT operations using AI, data, and machine learning.

IT operations teams in the financial services industry face serious challenges. Customers expect a seamless experience across a complex landscape including online platforms, mobile devices, and ATMs. Competition is fierce. Technology evolution continually disrupts the marketplace. These factors create obstacles for the teams tasked with ensuring near-perfect service availability while continuing to innovate.