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Why Legacy Alarm Monitoring Equipment is a Problem

How long can you keep a network alarm monitoring system in the field? Companies that operate telecom networks, especially utilities, are holding on to their telemetry systems up to the very last minute of their working lives, and maintaining these older systems is becoming a huge problem.

If you have to work with an older monitoring system, you're probably all too aware of the reluctance of upper management to finance large-scale replacements of network equipment. But what you probably don't realize is how commonplace the problem has become.

In most of the industries that use telecom networks (telecom service providers, transportation, government services), financial decision-makers are traditionally unwilling to spend on new alarm monitoring equipment. Telemetry is wrongly seen as a cost center instead of an essential safeguard to network reliability.

But in the electrical utility field, the problem of legacy equipment is particularly harsh. The 2003 Electric Utility Study by Newton-Evans Research found that utilities simply are not making investments in new network infrastructure - because utilities don't know whether they'll keep their networks under deregulation.

"The biggest issue is uncertainty about deregulation and restructuring affecting ownership and operation of operational IT and automation assets, affecting technology investments. Automation systems are being kept running longer, and system-wide deployments of automation are being deferred," the Newton-Evans study reported.

But you can't keep your legacy alarm system forever

But keeping your network monitoring system forever is not a viable option, for several reasons:

1. Your legacy monitoring system will eventually have a complete breakdown
2. You can't keep your network monitoring capabilities frozen in 1980s technology.
3. Your legacy system can't be integrated into a modern network management system.

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