5 Factors to Consider When Evaluating a Network Monitoring Solution • ElastiFlow

When it comes to selecting the right network monitoring solution, it’s easy to get lost in all the features and in comparing the initial price tags. But what about the hidden costs—the expenses that creep in after implementation and eat away at your ROI?

From long implementation times to future scalability challenges, these overlooked factors can turn what seems like a good investment into a costly headache down the road. A Gartner study found that “[a] whopping 80% of tech buyers experience some form of post-purchase regret.”

Before deciding on a network monitoring solution, considering a few key factors can help you understand its true cost so you can make a solid decision for you and your customers.

1. Understanding the True Cost of Implementation

When evaluating a network monitoring solution, start by considering the implementation time. How long will it take to install the solution and get it up and running? The time required to install and configure the system can directly impact your overall costs. A solution that takes weeks or months to implement not only delays your ability to monitor your network effectively but also ties up valuable IT resources during setup.

Equally important is the time to value—how quickly can you start getting actionable information? How many days will it take before you see a return on your investment? A shorter time to value means you can begin leveraging the benefits of your investment sooner, potentially identifying and resolving issues that could be costing your organization money or impacting network performance.

2. Identifying the Speed of Tapping into Insights

Another important consideration is how quickly insights are accessed. For example, you might run a query to check how much egress traffic you have, who the top bandwidth consumers are, or perform application dependency mapping. Some solutions take hours, a full day, or even longer, while others deliver results in mere seconds.

This is especially important during a security incident when you need fast, actionable insights.

3. Planning for Future Needs and Scalability

As your network grows in size and complexity, your monitoring solution needs to keep up. That’s why it’s important to ask how easily it can scale to increase the capacity for additional network visibility.

A lack of scalability can very easily become a hidden cost over time. Additionally, scalability isn’t only about managing a bigger network or more data; it’s also about supporting different types of networks and vendors. Vendor-specific solutions or those that require a high level of instrumentation can be very expensive to rip and replace later.

4. Evaluating Storage and Other Hidden Costs

Storage is another factor that can cost more than expected. Ask how much disk space the network monitoring solution will consume—this alone can be very expensive, depending on the technology you choose.

Another consideration is understanding the trade-offs between owning infrastructure and using a SaaS-based solution. Not having to manage hardware or maintain systems can be a major advantage of SaaS, allowing teams to focus on core operations rather than infrastructure concerns. However, it’s important to ensure that the SaaS provider offers transparency, reliability, and flexible data access.

For example, visibility into the system and troubleshooting capabilities could be a priority when choosing a provider. Additionally, there’s the question of data portability— organizations may want to have options for exporting their data or integrating it with other systems, such as machine learning engines or data lakes. In these cases, a SaaS solution should minimize these challenges by offering control, accessibility, and cost predictability.

5. Evaluating the ROI of Your Investment

One of the most tangible ways to measure the ROI of a network monitoring solution is to determine its ability to uncover areas of overspending or inefficiency in your network. This is particularly relevant for public cloud environments, where costs can quickly spiral out of control without proper visibility. A good monitoring solution should help you identify excessive egress traffic, underutilized or overutilized resources, and other areas where you may be overspending.

One of the best ways to fund a network monitoring project is to understand how your public clouds are being used. That’s often where people get nickel-and-dimed because they lack insight as clouds can be a black box.

Choosing the Right Solution for Your Needs

When evaluating network monitoring solutions, it’s helpful to look beyond the initial price tag and dig into the total cost of ownership, including implementation time, scalability, speed of insights, and potential cost savings. The right solution should align with your organization’s current needs while also considering future growth needs.

Here are a few key questions to ask before committing:

How long will implementation take, and when can we expect to see valuable insights?
How quickly can the solution process complex queries, especially during critical situations?
Can the solution scale with our network growth, and is it compatible with various vendors and technologies?
Who owns the infrastructure and data, and what level of control will we have?
What are the long-term storage requirements and associated costs?
How will this solution help us identify overspending and inefficiencies in our network?

By carefully considering these factors and asking the right questions, you can make an informed decision that provides the best value for your organization’s network monitoring needs today and in the future.

Do you want to learn more about the benefits of a network observability solution? Explore use cases and real-world experiences.