/ɪˈvɛnt ˈmænɪdʒmənt/
noun — "coordinating IT chaos so it looks intentional."
Event Management in information technology refers to the process of detecting, analyzing, and responding to events generated by systems, applications, and network devices. An event can be anything from a system alert, a user login, a failed backup, to a network packet drop. Event management ensures that IT teams can prioritize and respond to incidents efficiently, maintaining operational stability and service quality.
Technically, Event Management involves:
- Event collection — gathering notifications from servers, networks, applications, and security systems.
- Event correlation — linking related events to identify the underlying cause of issues.
- Alerting and escalation — notifying the right personnel about critical events and escalating unresolved issues.
- Integration with monitoring and logging systems for context and analysis.
Examples of Event Management include:
- Automatically opening a ticket when a server goes down.
- Correlating multiple failed login attempts to detect a possible intrusion.
- Monitoring application performance and generating alerts when thresholds are exceeded.
Conceptually, Event Management is like the control room of IT operations—it tracks what’s happening, figures out what matters, and ensures the right people respond in time. Efficient event management reduces downtime, improves incident response, and supports overall IT operations management.
In practice, Event Management leverages tools and platforms that centralize events, correlate alerts, and provide dashboards for visualization and reporting.
See Monitoring, Logging, Network Monitoring, IT Operations, Alerting.