Collecting metrics means nothing if nobody sees them. Alerting notifies you when metrics cross thresholds.
Good alerts are:
Actionable. Every alert should require human action.
Timely. Alert fast enough to respond.
Contextual. Include relevant data.
Alert channels:
- Email for non-urgent issues
- SMS for urgent issues
- Chat integration for team visibility
- Phone calls for critical failures
Common mistake: Too many alerts cause fatigue. Teams start ignoring them. Then real problems get missed.