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Campus NaaS Offers a Simplified Network Monitoring Approach
As our reliance on wired and wireless networks continues to soar, so does the demand for security information and event management (SIEM) solutions from companies like Splunk, IBM, and LogRythm. Because of this, network admins are often tasked with capturing syslog data, SNMP walks, and other critical details to ensure they have enough data to intelligently troubleshoot hard to pinpoint LAN and security issues.
I’ve observed that although the LAN is now essential to our daily lives, it has also grown more intricate and challenging to troubleshoot because the foundational architecture from traditional vendors has not significantly progressed. This has led to a growing need for SIEM experts who spend hours playing with SNMP, building rules to trigger alerts, and perusing through tons of intricate data.
The customers I’ve spoken with about the complexity and the time and resources spent on managing a SIEM, are now looking for a better option and experience.
A Shift from Complex to SIEMple
While the importance of a SIEM and/or Network Management dashboard doesn’t waver, with the emergence of a true Campus NaaS model designed from the ground up to eliminate legacy complexity, IT teams no longer need to monitor their networks on their own. Nor must they delve into detailed metrics such as CPU and memory usage, or the up/down status of access points (APs) and switches to name a few things.
At Nile, we’ve taken a different approach that includes AI and autonomous networking capabilities that uplevel the data needed to keep the core of a network up and running. As part of your service, we monitor access points, wired infrastructure, their software, and apply required fixes. The deep insights into individual network hardware and software components are less relevant from a customer perspective.
Instead, our customers can focus on high-level service indicators such as availability, coverage, and capacity. Data is provided in a simple, easy to understand way. The platform autonomously monitors the network using built-in telemetry and AI-driven analytics, dynamically identifying issues and triggering proactive, processed alerts. These context-rich and actionable alerts, eliminate the need for customers to manually parse raw logs or build custom automation workflows. As a result, everyone benefits from simplified operations, faster issue resolution, and a hands-off approach to network monitoring.
What our customers say they don’t miss
When working with their previous network infrastructure, and a product-based model IT organizations had to adopt a mix of monitoring tools, techniques, and practices to ensure visibility, alerting, and remediation. Here’s a breakdown of where IT resources were focused:
1. Sitting in front of vendor dashboards & management platforms
- Real-time device health monitoring
- Alert configuration (thresholds for CPU/memory usage, interface errors)
- Device log & event tracking
2. SNMP monitoring
- Polling switches/APs for metrics (CPU, memory, interface status)
- Perusing traps and alerts for link down, high usage, etc.
- Historical trend analysis
3. Syslog Analysis
- Aggregating logs from all devices
- Creating filters for severity (e.g., only alert on severity 3 or higher)
- Creating alert rules based on log patterns
4. SIEM interaction
- Ingesting syslogs, SNMP traps, and telemetry from switches/APs
- Creating correlation rules (e.g., multiple AP reboots = network instability)
- Tracking alerts on anomalies or known signatures
Unfortunately, these are just a few of the tasks customers had to endure with their traditional network. A lot of the burden fell to the IT organization which meant resources and time were spent building a deep understanding of the tools, perusing vendor product documentation and generating reports.
The Nile advantage
Despite the shift in responsibilities, a SIEM in a Nile network remains a value component, although the data provided is higher quality and there are fewer involved activities. Customer IT teams are no longer responsible for SNMP walks, looking through syslogs and telemetry for monitoring the core network elements, and trying to convey that information to the traditional network vendor’s TAC organization. Here are two examples of how information sent from Nile to a SIEM would differ from a traditional model:
Example 1: With Nile, customers receive a simple alert for an access point or switch being offline, with Nile looking into the issue on their behalf. Previously, the customer would have received SNMP and syslog information that they’d need to dig through to identify the online device, the possible root cause, and then they’d need to go onsite to resolve the issue.
Example 2: With Nile, customers receive an alert if anything related to the availability, coverage of their Wi-Fi service hampers the user experience. The autonomous nature of the Nile Access Service either resolves the issue or someone is taking a deeper look at potential issues. This simpler model eliminates deducing this information through correlation and analysis where the SIEM has to identify the issue using AI telemetry, syslog or data flows provided the traditional way.
Additional areas where SIEM information is simplified by Nile
End-User Device Events: The detailed insights provided by Nile includes event data like the actual status of DHCP servers, DNS resolution, and authentication processes that help customers with security audits, and historical information for each device that is connected to the network. We also send easy to consume analytics on the number and behavior of employees that come into the office, that can be used for real estate and space planning.
Contextual User to Service Correlation: This type of information in a Nile environment, we autonomously correlate end-user device events with other pieces of the infrastructure, such as DHCP, DNS, and RADIUS servers.
Service Status Alerts: IT teams are informed about key service metrics, making traditional network monitoring tools less necessary. Nile provides alerts related to service availability, coverage quality, and network capacity that provide early warnings to potential security risks, such as denial-of-service (DoS) attacks or unauthorized access points.
Compliance and Auditing: We’ve created easy-to-read audit trails and log data that document the interaction between end-user devices and the network infrastructure so that IT teams can use this to verify if requirements are being met.
Conclusion
The transition to Nile’s Campus NaaS solution represents a significant shift in how organizations can approach network and security monitoring in the future. The traditional way that SIEMs and monitoring tools, where customers manage their own infrastructure, will be able to use their SIEM more efficiently.
The table below compares what it takes to set up a SIEM and what it receives from a traditional network vs. Nile Access Service.
| SIEM Capability | Traditional Network | Nile Access Service |
| AP / Switch Health Monitoring | Customers determine rules via vendor dashboard or SNMP, syslog, and telemetry. Then integrates logs, low level events into SIEM | Nile monitors health end-to-end, continuously and is responsible for remediation; provides actionable alerts directly into SIEMS |
| Alerts and Notifications | Customer defines thresholds & configures alerts (syslog, SNMP) | Proactive alerts sent by Nile (automated + AI-driven) |
| Anomaly Detection | Customer configures rules (via SIEM, AI/ML add-ons, etc.) | Nile use AI to detect anomalies and automatically sends pre-defined alerts |
| Endpoint Device Data | Involves parsing telemetry data sent to the SIEM | Simple to parse end user device events clearly show the life of the device while on the network |
What this means for customers is that there is less to manage and service. User and endpoint issues are easier to pinpoint, and Nile helps offload the expertise needed to manage the network, as well as the SIEM solution. The enhanced analytics and offload to Nile allows IT teams to focus on other issues that the SIEM is used for, as well as pressing business needs.
