The Importance of Telemetry for Businesses that Run on Data

When technology became a core business process, rather than merely a supplemental resource, data and analytics grew to be equally as important. After all, the use of technology is supposed to result in faster, smoother, more efficient business practices. The only way to know if this is occurring is with meaningful insights derived from data and analytics.

There are a number of different methods used to capture and analyze data, and telemetry is one such method. It is the automatic process of collecting measurements or other data from remote or inaccessible sources and transmitting them to an IT system in another location for monitoring and analysis.

The Wireless Intelligence Platform™ (WIP) provides an all-in-one network telemetry solution by monitoring the entire network ecosystem, gathering data, transferring it to the cloud, analyzing it and maintaining records of real-time and historical insights for IT to review at any time. 

How is telemetry different from other data?

The primary benefit of telemetry data is that it provides a deep understanding of the real-world performance of whatever device or application data source a business chooses to focus on – although, only after the raw data is analyzed and turned into actionable insights. These insights can be into the health and performance of anything from a website or an application, to a mobile device like a laptop, to infrastructure like a server or access point, or any IoT device. With telemetry, companies can gain meaningful insights into the end user experience, and then decide how to streamline and optimize that experience, boosting productivity. 

WIP provides companies access to large sets of telemetry data by using its cloud-based, patented software and AI algorithms to collect and process high quantities of data. This is the recommended best practice for businesses in all verticals as the more data and analytics WIP has, the better it can identify patterns of behavior that can be used to improve the end user experience. 

How does telemetry work?

Generally, there are sensors at the remote source that measure data in real-time. That data is then automatically transmitted over a wired or wireless connection to a separate IT system that converts it into actionable analytics. This data will relay everything from server behavior, to cloud issues, to security breaches, to different types of interference – everything that is influencing the health, quality, and performance of the source, and therefore everything that is influencing the end user experience. 

WIP works differently than other sensors because it provides the entire telemetry life-cycle in one platform. By using its AI-engine to automatically analyze all network activity and alert IT to changes in health and performance, WIP works proactively to save companies time and money.

When is telemetry used?

The short answer is that telemetry is used and useful any time there is a benefit to be had from gathering data remotely to answer the question, “What is the end user experience for this given process?” 

IT teams can’t hover over the shoulders of thousands of employees or the management controls of thousands of smart devices, monitoring and analyzing everything that is done as the employee/device performs their daily tasks, but they can make informed, proactive decisions to improve operations if given the right analytical insights.

By providing remote visibility 24/7, even when humans can’t be onsite, WIP ensures that companies have continuous access to the analytics that they need to support critical business decisions.

Who needs telemetry?

Any business that wants insights into the entire end user experience needs telemetry. This is why telemetry data must be gathered from as many points as possible across a source’s data path, which is why WIP monitors the entire RF environment that a network operates within. This gives WIP the ability to “see” the full picture of the source’s health, quality, and performance, allowing it to deliver valuable insights into both technical and business problems. After all, businesses run on data, which makes almost all technical problems, business problems.

With telemetry data, businesses can answer many questions. This will give insight into the health of different technical components – such as servers, switches, the WiFi network, and applications – as well as insight into the end-to-end user experience. A few examples of questions that can be answered include:

• Is an IoT device interacting with the network in the expected manner?
• What happened just before and at the exact moment that a video call dropped? (This is especially useful for resolving intermittent issues.)
• How congested are the airwaves during specific times of the day or specific events?
• How does a DHCP/DNS server respond to different user requests?

What are the benefits of WIP’s telemetry data?

With the ability to analyze large sets of data from the entire RF ecosystem, the vendor-agnostic WIP provides insight into how individual pieces of data are connected. This allows it to provide business intelligence analytics, rather than disparate performance reports. 

With WIP, businesses can ensure acceptable, reliable IT uptime and performance for all their users, a competitive advantage in today’s tech-centered world.