Determine the purpose and scope of your Splunk deployment
Defining a purpose and scope for your Splunk implementation allows you to focus on what you want to use Splunk software and solutions to do. Who are the stakeholders? How do you want to use Splunk software and solutions to leverage your machine data? Documenting this information in a charter sets expectations among stakeholders and helps prioritize the decisions you make and the actions you take.
Guidelines for defining a purpose
Use these guidelines to establish a purpose for your Splunk implementation:
Define clear objectives that you want to use Splunk software and solutions to achieve
Knowing these basic goals helps focus your efforts. Clear objectives also communicate clearly to executive sponsors and stakeholders the return on investment the organization will receive from Splunk software and solutions.
Investigate any constraints on your Splunk implementation
Constraints can include access to data, adequate staffing, or user education. Knowing these constraints up front can help set expectations about how to resolve them.
Identify your stakeholders
Stakeholders are any group who will benefit from the answers and insights Splunk software and solutions provide from your machine data. For guidelines about how to build a strong, comprehensive list of stakeholders, see Managing stakeholders.
List the benefits of implementing Splunk software and solutions on your machine data
Beyond meeting initial objectives, implementing Splunk software and solutions brings other benefits, such as optimizing your data infrastructure, getting smarter about your machine data, and the possibility of learning things you didn't even know to ask. Listing benefits beyond the initial objectives helps motivate your implementation team and inspire your stakeholders about the benefits of Splunk software and solutions. Consider that benefits to a Splunk implementation can range from operational capabilities to direct fiscal returns via IT tools consolidation or report automation.
Guidelines for defining a scope
Scope defines how you want to implement Splunk software and solutions in your data infrastructure.
Splunk as a solution
Use Splunk software to address use cases for a single team, group, or purpose. You can check Lantern’s Use Case Explorers for Security and Observability to find solutions that fit your business needs.
Splunk as a service
Use Splunk software to provide Splunk-related services for multiple teams, groups, and purposes. You can define how to implement Splunk as a service by mapping the different services that your team or organization currently provides, then looking for opportunities to improve service offerings through using Splunk.
Splunk as a strategy
Use Splunk software to provide mature services that position Splunk as a competitive differentiator for your business. When looking at your overall goals and strategy over the long-term, map out opportunities to grow your Splunk adoption to fit with your changing growth and strategy.
Guidelines for defining a charter
Once you have defined your scope and purpose, you can bring your ideas into a charter.
A charter is a document that describes the purpose and scope of your Splunk implementation. This document should capture high-level goals and objectives that all of your stakeholders can agree on, so that from the start of your Splunk implementation it’s clear to everyone involved who’s responsible for what.
A good charter acts as a north star for your Splunk implementation, and should be a document that’s as practical as it is aspirational. You can use a charter to provide information on your Splunk implemenation’s overall goals and purpose when new stakeholders join your team, to help them quickly get up to speed. You can also refer back to your charter if there’s ever any confusion about priorities or direction.
It can be a good idea to review what’s in your charter every so often to ensure that you’re on track with the goals you decided at the start of your Splunk implementation. If there’s any mismatch between the priorities laid out in your charter and the priorities you are working towards later on, you might want to revise the charter to ensure that all of your stakeholders are still in agreement about what’s important.