Look forward to a vastly improved experience with Freshservice Alert Management. Several significant changes are being rolled out in April, 2022, that offer:
Simplified onboarding: Start using the module with just 3 steps as opposed to 6+ earlier. No need to create an Alert Profile. Directly connect with monitoring tools using an expanding range of out-of-the-box integrations, email as a channel for alerts, and custom integrations.
Greater versatility: In custom integrations, group alerts by Subject & Node in addition to the default values of Resource and Metric.
AI based actions: Use ML driven Automated Grouping to create contextually richer incidents and reduce noise.
How will the addition of monitoring tools become simpler?
Currently, integration of a monitoring tool requires a minimum of 6 steps, with several intermediate steps requiring multiple details and clicks. But with the new updates, this would require just 3 steps:
First, choose a monitoring tool
Second, copy the unique email ID generated by the tool
Third, configure that email ID in your monitoring tool.
Alert fields are mapped by default based on the monitoring tool. You can edit them as needed after completing the integration process.
In addition, with the option of email as a channel for ingesting alerts, users can now integrate monitoring tools that don’t support integration with Freshservice via webhooks. Users can create Alert Rules based on Integration Name and automate incident creation. This will help users evaluate all alerts and related incidents on a single pane of glass.
How will the experience become more versatile?
To reduce noise, Freshservice currently groups alerts together based on common Resources and Metrics by default. Going forward, users will also have the option to group alerts based on any combination of Resource name, Metric name, Message, and Node by creating a custom integration.
What imparts greater intelligence to the module?
Freshservice Alert Management is now empowered with ML driven Automated Grouping of alerts. Automated Grouping employs Freshservice’s proprietary Machine Learning algorithm, Freddy, to study incoming alerts from disparate resources and attach them to related open incidents. If there is no relevant open incident, Freddy creates a new incident.
When suitably trained, Freddy reduces noise up to 50% and makes incidents contextually richer. Such incidents provide a real-time picture of an issue, making it easier for the NOC and DevOps teams to make fast and effective decisions.
Note: Automated Grouping is currently in Beta and we’re actively seeking feedback from our customers to make it better. Learn more.
How will the experience change for me after the concept of Alert Profile is retired?
As an existing user of the Alert Management module, you do not need to make any changes at your end. All your monitoring tool integrations will remain unaffected and you will continue to receive and view alerts on the Alerts pane. However, there are a few changes in the UI that you need to be prepared for:
Absence of the Alert Profile icon on the Admin page: This icon will be replaced by the Alert Integrations icon. Thus, if you need to add a new monitoring tool, you no longer have to first create an Alert Profile. Simply head to Alert Integrations on the Admin page, and add the monitoring tool.
Existing integrations under an Alert Profile to be viewable in list view: All the integrations that you’ve added till date under various Alert Profiles will remain unaffected. To view them, select Alert Integrations on the Admin page. The following page – Alert Integrations – will list all the integrations.
Continued visibility of Alert Profile in the Analytics section for a limited period:
While Alert Profile will be replaced by Alert Integrations in the Admin page, the Alert Profile widget will continue to be visible in the Analytics section for a limited period of time. Similarly, Alert Profile will continue to be listed in the filters for Alert Management reports in near future. This will have no impact on your integrations or how you view and address alerts and incidents. These occurrences of Alert Profile are irrelevant to your processes, and will be retired in due time.
Why is Alert Profile being retired from Freshservice Alert Management?
Over the course of the past year we sought feedback from our customers, and realized that Alert Profile was adding friction to the onboarding process. That is why we’re withdrawing Alert Profile as a concept. Users will now be able to directly search for alert integrations, canceling the need to categorize them as profiles.
In case you have any questions, please write to support@freshservice.com and we will get back to you.
