I’m about to ask you a question that might derail your entire day: Did you move your Elf on the Shelf last night?
Thousands of parents around the world, after all, wake up panicked at 4 AM every other day with the heart-stopping image of a stagnant Elf on the Shelf. I did last night and in those dreary, early-morning moments of belated elf placement, it occurred to me that Elf on the Shelf reminds me a lot of something else: endpoint visibility.
Okay, I saw you roll your eyes — bear with me. Our nosy little elf friend is basically Santa’s endpoint visibility agent. Think about it: your house is the endpoint, and the elf is the agent. But the resemblance doesn’t stop there. We can come up with a few reasons, actually, why Elf on the Shelf is just like endpoint visibility:
1. It doesn’t get in the way
Ok, maybe this one is only mostly true — because yeah, Elf on the Shelf isn’t totally inconvenience free (as evidenced by those many frantic, early morning wake-up calls). But, on the whole, it’s pretty non-intrusive. Imagine if, every time your elf saw something naughty, he jumped up and intervened. On top of being supremely creepy (Chuckie, is that you?), it would be distracting and irritating. Thankfully, Elf on the Shelf spares us of that particular annoyance. The little guy (or gal!) just sits there, and unless you have, say, an especially mischievous dog, chances are you won’t find yourself tripping over him or finding him in the way. Relief, right? Same goes for quality endpoint visibility. It sits on an endpoint, it does its job, and doesn’t get in the way.
2. It doesn’t take up a lot of space
Have you ever noticed how tiny and lightweight that little guy is? Probably, considering the borderline sadistic hiding places you’ve probably tried to stick him into (or am I the only one who does that?). He’s bendy, he’s tiny, and he can cram himself into pretty much any little nook or cranny around your house. Endpoint visibility is the same way. The right solution will be so small and lightweight that, like Santa’s scout, it takes no time to deploy and can sit pretty much anywhere without causing an impact.
3. It sees it all
Our scout elf presides over his endpoint dominion with a near infallible eye. He sees it all — certainly more than any mere mortal human could (even us parents!). After all, Santa definitely needs to be getting the best and most complete data that he possibly can. Similarly, endpoint visibility gives you information that you could never get anywhere else. Just like Santa, you don’t have the time to check up on every single one of your employees personally — and even if you could, you’d likely miss something. Endpoint visibility does the work for you by capturing all of that data that normally slips through the cracks.
4. It can’t be touched
You’re probably more than familiar with the rules: the scout elf cannot be touched, or else he”ll lose his magical powers. Those are some high stakes! Definitely more than enough to make sure your nosy kids don’t go trying to mess with the scout. Endpoint visibility is the same way: it can’t be tampered with. A good endpoint visibility solution will alert to any tampering attempts, and will be specifically fortified against them. Just like your elf, it’s untouchable.
5. It knows when you’re naughty and when you’re nice
Here comes the biggest similarity: your scout elf and your endpoint visibility both know who’s being naughty and who’s being nice. Your scout elf doesn’t run back to Santa and report every minute detail of each and every day. That would be horribly inefficient for a man who is undoubtedly very busy this time of year — and one who clearly has mastered time management strategies, having somehow found a way to make it to roughly two billion homes in one night. Instead, the elf manages to interpret what he’s seen in order to give the big boss man succinct but meaningful reports of what happens each day. What’s more, the elf doesn’t just report the bad (thankfully!), but also focuses equally on the good deeds that each child did throughout the day. A properly used endpoint visibility system operates in the same way. It should never be an overwhelming surveillance tool used solely for finding negative behavior. Instead, endpoint visibility is an intelligent system that gives you a clear, complete overview of the state of your entire enterprise — both the bad and the good.
Just like our Elf on the Shelf!
See? It makes perfect sense.
So now, when you’re dragging yourself out of bed in the middle of the night to move your scout elf to a new hiding place, you’ll have a whole new insight to your little elf buddy. And while you’re at it — maybe lying in bed, unable to sleep after waking yourself up with a start — feel free to learn a little more about endpoint visibility. Here’s a great place to start.
Tell your elf to say hi to Santa for me!