What 2016 Ops Teams Learned About Monitoring Tools and Alert Patterns

Which Monitoring Tool Reigns Supreme?

In 2016, Zabbix was the dominant monitoring system, used by 68.1% of respondents, followed by Open-falcon and Nagios. Zabbix remains the top choice, while Open-falcon grew rapidly.

Alert Notification Methods Comparison

48.8% of participants used SMS for alerts, 33.3% email, 10.9% WeChat, and 4.7% phone. Over half used multiple channels, and 32.4% used two or more methods.

Monthly Alert Volume Distribution

Alerts occurred throughout the year, with the second half showing higher volume than the first. April had the most alerts, while the fourth quarter saw increased pressure, likely due to business performance spikes.

Daily Alert Distribution Within a Month

Alert counts were relatively stable in the first and middle of each month, but increased by about 20% in the last ten days, indicating heavier workloads toward month‑end.

Time‑of‑Day Alert Distribution

Peak alert times were 10‑12 am and 4‑6 pm, coinciding with business traffic peaks.

Geographic Alert Distribution

Nearly half of mobile alerts were sent to phones in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

Fun Alert Data (Easter Eggs)

A mobile‑internet colleague received 30,862 SMS alerts in 2016 (≈84 per day, 3 per hour).

A real‑estate professional got 234,808 email alerts (≈643 per day).

A big‑data company employee received 49,486 WeChat alerts (≈135 per day).

A cloud‑service expert was active on alerts for over 350 days, missing only 15 days.

We thank all operations colleagues for their hard work and dedication throughout the year.