Over the last few months DCIG has researched various AIOps platforms available to enterprises. DCIG does not consider the research it has completed to date a comprehensive look into all available platforms. However, DCIG has investigated the AIOps platforms from multiple enterprise technology providers. This research has led DCIG to have three early insights into the current state of AIOps platforms.
The Need for AIOps
More enterprises than ever face the challenge of effectively monitoring and managing their hybrid cloud infrastructure. To address this challenge, they turn to artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) platforms to help them in this task. In that vein, promising AIOps platforms certainly do exist to help them in this area.
However, enterprises need to set realistic expectations as the current state of AIOps platforms reveals significant differences between them. Here are three early insights that DCIG has drawn based on the limited research it has done so far.
Insight #1 – AIOps Platforms Operate Best in “Enhanced Homogeneous” Hybrid Cloud IT Environments.
In evaluating AIOps platforms used in hybrid cloud environments, I hesitate to describe the capabilities of these platforms as either homogeneous or heterogeneous. Hybrid cloud environments by their very nature usually consist of on-premises and cloud technologies from at least two different providers. As such, they are not truly homogeneous solutions.
However, I feel disingenuous in describing AIOps platforms as heterogeneous. In my mind, heterogeneous implies an AIOps platform will work well with technologies from multiple providers and across multiple general-purpose clouds. Right now, that largely does not hold true.
Instead, it is perhaps better to describe current AIOps platforms as supporting an “enhanced homogeneous” hybrid cloud environment. In this scenario, the AIOps platform helps an enterprise manage all its on-premises technologies from that single provider and uses a single general-purpose cloud provider.
Insight #2 – AIOps Platforms Primarily Do Discovery, Monitoring, and Alerting
Enterprises also must set realistic expectations about what actions that AIOps platforms can currently perform. One should view any AIOps platform as having at least the following six stages in its development and maturity supporting a hybrid cloud environment.
- Discovery of devices and services in a hybrid cloud environment.
- Monitoring and generating alerts on these devices and services.
- Go beyond monitoring and alerting to the management of devices and services in an enhanced homogeneous hybrid cloud environment.
- Expanding to support devices and services from other technology and cloud providers to create a more heterogeneous AIOps platform.
- Recommending changes to improve resilience or application performance.
- Acting on recommendations in real-time or automating changes with IT management approval of specific recommendations.
While probably simplified, current AIOps platforms still largely exist in phase 2 or 3. A few more mature AIOps platforms have started implementing various select components of Phases 4, 5, and 6. That said, DCIG has yet to uncover an AIOps platform that fully does Phases 4, 5, or 6 across multiple providers’ devices and general-purpose clouds.
Insight #3 – Cross-platform Support Represents the Gold Standard by Which One Should Measure AIOps Platforms.
Delivering cross-platform support should ultimately represent the gold standard by which enterprises should measure AIOps platforms. With cross-platform support, the AIOps platforms should ideally pull data from all devices and software services that enterprise workloads may touch. This entails:
- On the on-premises or physical side, it should minimally collect data from the server, networking, and storage devices being used.
- On the cloud side, it should collect data from the cloud provider on the cloud services being used.
- In both on-premises and cloud environments, it should minimally interact with the operating systems and hypervisors being used.
- Beyond the minimal requirements, a mature AIOps platform should include application-level awareness and optimization capabilities.
Only by gathering data from all these components can AIOps platforms begin to deliver on their ultimate objective: Advising an enterprise on how to manage and protect its hybrid cloud environment. Gathering data from anything less calls into question the reliability of the recommendations that the AIOps platform generates.
Here again, AIOps platforms differ in their abilities to support multiple platforms. The level of cross-platform support largely ties back to the provider delivering the AIOps platform. Since most AIOps platforms currently come from traditional “hardware” providers, the level and depth of cross-platform support reflects this ownership.
If an AIOps platform supports server, networking, and storage devices, it is because the AIOps platform provider manufactures all these devices. As such, the best AIOps platforms currently come from hardware providers. In that vein, based on its limited initial evaluation, DCIG views HPE GreenLake AIOps as currently among the best AIOps platforms for hybrid cloud environments.
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