Simplifying the Task of Processing Alerts

Processing alerts can seem like an arduous task. Realistically, it is not. There are only three possible actions on any given alert. As long as you focus on processing all alerts and apply this simple template, you will calibrate and tune your management group in no time.

For every new Alert generated, there are three possibble descriptions for the Alert (why it was generated):

Type 1: Valid. The alert is identifying a real condition, that if not acted on, could lead to a service disruption. It applies to your environment. An example is low disk space. Valid alerts have a clear root cause, diagnosis and prognosis.

Type 2: Invalid or Not Applicabe. The alert is identifying a condition that has nothiong to do with your environment and therefore can be disabled via an override. Some examples include the presence of certificates. The Exchange MP expects certificates to secure communications between OWA and Backend servers. You simply may have chosen to not do so and therefore the Alert is not applicable.

Type 3: Requires Calibration. This is the same as #1 however, the criteria which triggers the alert is not configured correctly. Thresholds set too low or too high or incorrect criteria.

This is a very, very simplistic approach but often, the simplest solution works the best. Don't procrastinate. I do and I always pay the price :-) Aggressivley tackle the alerts and before you know it the console will only have type 1 Alerts.