Splunk is an effective data analytics and visualization software that can deliver significant business outcomes for its customers by integrating real-time data insight into every decision related to security IT operations and more. Although Splunk is an expensive investment, the ROI could be astronomical, and for users who can maximize the use of the tool, the ROI is even greater.
An extensive guide to get the most value from every part of Splunk is too many for a single blog post. Such a guide could be more like an open-air book than a door. However, we wanted to share some of our known and tested tips to help you get started on maximizing your return on investment. To learn more, join a Splunk course online at any time.
1. Establish Goals
The first step to successfully using any new service, product, or procedure is being clear about the goals you intend to achieve. Instead of using Splunk on a sporadic basis, making reports, searching, or launching new applications when they are interesting or valuable, begin by setting objectives that guide your platform usage.
What business issues are you trying to resolve, or what milestones do you hope to reach using Splunk? What is a success, and what kind of metrics can be used to monitor your performance? If both you and the group have established goals, you can employ Splunk strategically to reach your goals, focusing all of your resources and time on the decisions that matter.
2. Create an outline of your Roadmap
Did it be Antoine de Saint-Exupery who said, “A goal without a plan is nothing more than an idea”?
Once you’ve laid out your goals, your Roadmap will be the guideline you’ll follow to reach (or surpass) your goals. Looking backward from the goals you’d like to accomplish, determine the steps needed to achieve them. What software configurations are needed? What applications must be integrated into your current systems? What sources of data will need to be indexed and onboarded? What reports do you require to create to keep track of your development?
Of course, your plan could change as you discover more effective strategies or as your business’s objectives and strategy evolve; however, that’s okay. However, creating it (and altering it as needed) in adhering to it is a more efficient way to achieve outcomes than going blind.
3. Use Users Effectively
Have you ever tried to find something within an overflowing closet or in a mess of computer files? The accumulation of clutter slows us down at home and in our business — and Splunk. One of the primary sources of clutter that we observe is in the area of user management. We see companies looking to expand by creating up to twenty roles in advance even though they only require only three or four. Businesses are avoiding functions altogether, leaving users to be free of the platform’s default roles, which are not specific to the forum (“user,” “power user,” etc.). On the other hand, clients grant users more access to their indexes than needed — or even not enough access.
These mistakes can cause clutter to slow processes and affect the visibility essential to using Splunk efficiently. To reap the most value from Splunk, I suggest getting rid of clutter.
4. Streamline Scheduled Searches
In the same way, inadequately managed or cluttered search schedules could prevent businesses from getting the most from Splunk. If you’re looking to produce regular reports about the frequency of specific events (sales and visits to a particular page or 503 errors…the sky’s the limit in terms of searchable events), Then scheduled searches are an extremely efficient tool. The searches run in the background for a set date and period and provide reports to significant users.
However, we also discover that the scheduled searches become too complicated to offer the information users need. We recently assisted a customer who believed that Splunk did not work due to reports that didn’t produce the way they should. When we discovered it was a matter of 100 million searches scheduled to be run simultaneously every night, we knew the answer. The system was overwhelmed, and we could solve the issue by spreading the search results more efficiently (along with a lot of other work to clear the backlog).
Incorrectly managing search times or time frames or allowing users to plan too many search requests could be harmful to Splunk’s capability to run searches and produce valuable reports.
5. Find Help When You Need It
Remember that you don’t need to take it on by yourself. It’s a fact that, like many other enterprise software solutions, Splunk has an arduous learning curve. Often, we encounter clients who have tried to handle everything on their own for many years before coming to us at their limit and are willing to give up altogether. We’re pretty adept at cleaning up, and we’ve helped clients untangle the most complex knots they’ve created. It’s also easy to save yourself time, frustration, money, and effort by asking for assistance early by making sure that Splunk and its components are set up exactly how they’re supposed to help you achieve your company’s goals.
Conducive Consulting is where we’ve assisted hundreds of Splunk customers in maximizing their ROI by offering a range of support options, ranging from the convenience of on-demand or specialist support and complete Software Management. If your organization is looking to increase the benefit from Splunk and its numerous functions, you can check out the Splunk tutorial for beginners to know more about how Splunk can assist you.
