Xconnect spots IT issues sooner with Opsview

XConnect provides a trusted global registry of network and subscriber information, based on privacy compliant phone number data, including number portability, to optimize global communication services.

XConnect is comprised of four primary and three secondary sites. The primary sites have their own monitoring clusters with a total of 250 devices and network servers combined with approximately 10,000 service checks, 1,800 of these per minute. Being a 24/7 operation, downtime is not an option. If an issue arises, it must be responded to and dealt with immediately.

As a VoIP company, XConnect needed to extensively monitor its complex IT estate and was looking to implement a one-stop solution. It also had further requirements to make additional customization to the product therefore, it needed a fully flexible solution. The solution would replace systems and network monitoring tools, such Big Brother, Ganglia, and Cacti. But equally as important, the solution also needed to provide end-to-end monitoring to track routers, hardware, and the whole IT estate.

Searching for the right monitoring platform

XConnect compared SolarWinds, Centreon, Zenos and Nagios XI to Opsview Enterprise. The benefit of being built on an underlying framework of Nagios and the ability to use and access the Nagios exchange library and community plug-ins within Opsview Enterprise was key. Additionally, other solutions could not provide redundant slave clustering, which was a big concern as it has a zero downtime requirement.

Having looked at a variety of monitoring solutions, it was apparent that XConnect required a solution that was flexible and customizable enough to build from and to enable making further changes where necessary as nothing off the shelf met requirements.

Originally an Opsview community user, XConnect understood the need to customize its solution and, realizing the value of Opsview Enterprise, it sought approval from management to purchase. Once the decision was made to purchase Opsview, it proceeded to upgrade.

Deployment and Result

The installation of Opsview Enterprise was quick and easy, but due to the customization required for in depth customer checks there was additional development carried out to get the product running to the standard required — including custom development, custom monitoring, and components programmed to speak their own language.

Opsview provided XConnect with the ability to track a lot more information. It was able to set up new tests, which enabled quick detection and resolution to any issues before it was able to make an impact to the business. This enabled XConnect to develop a proactive response and the ability to compose event correlation information.

Partners are much happier as they have a more detailed view of events within the entire IT estate. They are experiencing fewer issues and can spot a potential problem earlier, which also means they have less people on call resulting in greater ROI.