As organizations try to develop a better understanding of IT-related operating expenses in order to more accurately control costs and budget resources, it becomes increasingly important to correctly report on usage as it relates to actual business structures.
For example, printing a document in color vs. black and white may not register as significant to an individual user, but in a large enterprise the volume of such individually insignificant occurrences can quickly drive up operating costs. A simple understanding of how each department is using shared resources can save thousands of dollars through a few policy changes that encourage responsible resource consumption.
LogRhythm provides an automated means of capturing and understanding data about shared IT resource usage for more accurate budgeting, policy mapping, and resource planning.
Controlling Resources
Challenge
Tying individual activities and usage to specific departments is problematic with shared IT resources. Without centralized log collection, it can be difficult to report on how individual departments are using which resources and tie the associated operating cost to the enterprise.
Solution
LogRhythm’s comprehensive log collection, data enrichment and analysis capabilities provide detailed information about specific activities, such as who printed what document, when they printed it, how many copies, and whether or not it was a color copy or black & white.
Benefit
Easily configured, automated alerts can notify department heads and resource managers of usage policy violations, such as unnecessary, high-volume print jobs, allowing business units to be proactive in controlling.
Tracking Usage Trends
Challenge
Keeping track of global usage patterns is not the responsibility of the individual business units. Ultimate responsibility for enterprise-wide usage tracking and reporting falls on the IT Department.
Solution
LogRhythm’s advanced visual trending and detailed reporting provide IT departments with detailed information on usage of shared resources. An extensive, automated normalization process makes sure that the information is usable.
Benefit
IT departments can group usage trends by department and deliver accurate reports to internal auditors, providing them with relevant information to help define global usage policies.
Increasing Accountability
Challenge
Operational budgets are separately maintained without adequately accounting for fiscal ownership of shared resources. Without individual departmental accountability, responsible usage is not easily enforced.
Solution
LogRhythm provides automated, logical entity grouping that can be used to segment log and event data by department. Reports can correlate all activity by business unit and provide easy access to relevant usage details for shared resources.
Benefit
Accurate information in an easily accessible format allows IT departments to hold individual business units responsible for their own activities, budgeting and resource planning.