The Maintenance Evolution

Infrastructure management has evolved through three distinct phases:

1. Reactive (Post-Failure): Fix it when it breaks. High downtime, high stress.
2. Preventive (Scheduled): Replace parts every 12 months. Wasteful, as many parts are still healthy.
3. Predictive (AI-Led): Monitor health and replace only when a failure is imminent.

AIOps and Telemetry

AI is only as good as its data. Modern switches and routers now export Streaming Telemetry—sub-second updates on every metric from CPU temperature to optical power levels.

• Pattern Recognition: Identifying that a 0.5dB drop in optical power every Tuesday correlates with a specific HVAC cycle, indicating a cabling stress issue.
• Automated Root Cause Analysis (RCA): Automatically correlating 5,000 alarms across the globe into a single 'Event' to prevent alert fatigue.

Conclusion

AI turns 'Maintenance' from a cost center into a strategic advantage. By eliminating the 'Surprise' of failure, we enable 99.999% availability without the massive waste of over-scheduled part replacements.