Any modern organization depends heavily on the health of its network and servers. If a server goes down, it can seriously impact a business’s ability to provide services for clients and customers to get work done. If network admins don’t know a server went down, the problem could quickly worsen. No one may realize there is a problem until the support lines are loaded with calls, and everyone needs to scramble first to find the issue and then fix it.

Companies, like most things, rarely grow in a straight line. Plants will take root where they can, and send shoots where they can to get the most sunlight, even if there are obstacles in the way. But vines and branches aren’t known for their efficient pathing, which can make a tangled mess of the whole plant. So get a good sun hat and some pruning shears ready; you’ll need them today! The difference between organic and structured growth is one of purpose and planning.

Welcome to the companion post to So You Received an Alert. Now What? Last time, we broke down the process between receiving the Uptime.com check alert and figuring out what broke. Today, we’re going to show you how to communicate your efforts so that everyone – your end users, coworkers, and bosses – know what’s going on. Your first step is to update your Status Page, your central hub for incident management and communication.

Your phone buzzes with an incoming text message right when you’re about to start dinner. Inconvenient, but better than a 3 am call. It’s an Uptime.com Alert, and if you want to clear it before your dinner gets cold you need the right tools for investigation… If that scenario sounds familiar to you, then you’re in good (if tired) company.

If you’ve ever had a website or service go down as you were using it, then you’ll understand the irritation of a generic error message and a plea to “Be patient!” (if you’re lucky). It’s almost like they know they’re not telling you the full story. The companies that are on top of their outage game will have a prepared link or redirect to their Status Page (or at least, have one prominently displayed on their pages and social media) for times like these.

Service Level Agreements are designed to foster trust between your customers and your business. They help define the maximum amount of downtime your team finds acceptable. While they can have legal repercussions, SLAs are fundamentally about trust. Your customers use your service because you’re the best at what you do. They remain loyal because they trust you to do what they need. Retention in SaaS is very fickle, and competition in certain spaces is quite stiff.

Employees are returning from vacation, the weather is (finally) cooling down and summer is coming to a close. It can feel a bit overwhelming returning to work and getting back into the swing of things. When it comes to website monitoring, there are simple steps you can take to make sure your transition is as smooth as possible. Take advantage of a few ounces of pre-vacation prevention to save on pounds of post-holiday cure.

I’m a recent entrant to the Website Monitoring game, but there is one thing I realized straight away: A Monitoring tool is only as good as it’s configured to be. Website monitoring is at its best when it’s reliable, informative, and efficient. When it gives you the information you need, when you need it, and the peace of mind to say “if I’m not being alerted, I know it’s still working.”

If you are in a room with 20 engineers and you ask, “explain what an API is to a non-technical person”, you will get 20 different analogies. An API is like the on button to your TV connecting you to a variety of shows and systems, or an API is like a waiter taking your order and serving you from the kitchen. An API is like a library card catalog, or it’s simply a tool that connects you to other tools.