Team Setup

Setting up your team properly is essential for collaborative monitoring. This guide walks you through inviting team members, configuring permissions, and establishing workflows that scale with your organization.

Overview

9n9s team management includes:

• User Invitations: Add team members to your organization
• Role-Based Access Control: Control what team members can do
• Project Permissions: Grant access to specific projects
• Collaborative Features: Share monitors, alerts, and status pages

Step 1: Invite Team Members

Send Invitations

1. Navigate to Team Settings

   • Log into app.9n9s.com
   • Go to Organization Settings in the sidebar
   • Click “Team” or “Members”

2. Invite New Members

   • Click “Invite Member” button
   • Enter the email address of the person you want to invite
   • Select their Organization Role:
     • Admin: Full access except billing
     • Member: Access to assigned projects only
     • Viewer: Read-only access across organization
   • Add a personal message (optional)
   • Click “Send Invitation”

3. Bulk Invitations

   • Click “Bulk Invite” for multiple invitations
   • Enter email addresses (one per line)
   • Set the same role for all invitees
   • Click “Send All Invitations”

Invitation Management

Pending Invitations:

• View all pending invitations in the team dashboard
• Resend invitations if needed
• Cancel invitations before they’re accepted
• Set expiration dates for security

Invitation Acceptance:

• Invited users receive an email with a secure link
• They create their account or log in if they already have one
• Account is automatically added to your organization

Step 2: Configure Roles and Permissions

Organization Roles

Admin Role:

• Manage all projects and monitors
• Invite and remove team members
• Configure organization settings
• Access all notification channels
• Cannot: Manage billing or delete organization

Member Role:

• Access assigned projects only
• Create and manage monitors in assigned projects
• Configure alerts for accessible monitors
• View team members but cannot invite others

Viewer Role:

• Read-only access to all projects
• View monitors, alerts, and status
• Cannot create or modify anything
• Useful for stakeholders and executives

Project-Level Permissions

1. Assign Project Access

   • Go to Projects in your organization dashboard
   • Select a project
   • Click “Manage Access”
   • Add team members and select their project role:
     • Admin: Full control over project
     • Editor: Create/modify monitors and alerts
     • Viewer: Read-only access to project

2. Bulk Permission Management

   • Use “Bulk Edit Permissions” for multiple projects
   • Select team members and projects
   • Apply the same role across multiple resources

Permission Examples

Development Team Setup:

John (Backend Lead) → Admin on "API Services" project
Sarah (Frontend Dev) → Editor on "Web App" project
Mike (DevOps) → Admin on "Infrastructure" project
Lisa (QA) → Viewer on all projects

Multi-Environment Setup:

Production Project:
- Senior Engineers → Admin
- Junior Engineers → Editor
- QA Team → Viewer

Staging Project:
- All Engineers → Editor
- QA Team → Admin (for testing)

Development Project:
- All Engineers → Admin
- Interns → Editor

Step 3: Set Up Project Structure

Create Project Hierarchy

1. Production Projects

   • Project Name: “Production Services”
   • Description: “Critical production infrastructure”
   • Team Access: Senior engineers as Admins
   • Alert Channels: PagerDuty, Slack operations channel

2. Staging Projects

   • Project Name: “Staging Environment”
   • Description: “Pre-production testing environment”
   • Team Access: All engineers as Editors
   • Alert Channels: Slack development channel

3. Development Projects

   • Project Name: “Development Environment”
   • Description: “Local and feature branch testing”
   • Team Access: All team members as Editors
   • Alert Channels: Email notifications only

Project Assignment Strategy

By Service Ownership:

API Services Project → Backend Team
Frontend Applications → Frontend Team
Infrastructure → Platform/DevOps Team
Data Pipeline → Data Team

By Environment:

Production → Senior Engineers + On-call rotation
Staging → All Engineers
Development → All Engineers + QA

By Criticality:

Critical Services → Admin access only
Important Services → Editor access for team leads
Standard Services → Editor access for all engineers

Step 4: Configure Team Workflows

Shared Notification Channels

1. Set Up Team Channels

   • Go to Organization Settings > Notification Channels
   • Create team-specific channels:
     • “Backend Team Slack”: #backend-alerts
     • “Frontend Team Email”: [email protected]
     • “On-Call Rotation”: PagerDuty integration

2. Channel Permissions

   • Some channels can be Organization-wide (accessible to all teams)
   • Others can be Project-specific (only accessible within certain projects)
   • Set Channel Admins who can modify channel settings

Collaborative Monitor Management

Monitor Ownership:

1. Tag Monitors by Team

   • Use consistent tagging: team:backend, team:frontend
   • Add owner:john.doe for individual responsibility
   • Use criticality:high for escalation rules

2. Shared Monitoring Dashboards

   • Create team-specific dashboards
   • Pin important monitors for quick access
   • Set up custom views filtered by team tags

Knowledge Sharing:

1. Monitor Documentation

   • Add detailed descriptions to all monitors
   • Include runbook links in monitor descriptions
   • Document expected behavior and common issues

2. Alert Context

   • Include team contact information in alert messages
   • Add links to relevant dashboards and documentation
   • Provide clear escalation paths

Team-Specific Alert Rules

Example Backend Team Setup:

Rule: "Backend Service Failures"
Conditions:
- Tags include "team:backend"
- Status changes to "Down" or "Degraded"
Actions:
- Slack #backend-alerts (immediate)
- Email [email protected] (5 minutes)
- PagerDuty (15 minutes, critical only)

Example Frontend Team Setup:

Rule: "Frontend Application Issues"
Conditions:
- Tags include "team:frontend"
- Status changes to "Down"
Actions:
- Slack #frontend-alerts (immediate)
- Email [email protected] (10 minutes)

Step 5: Security and Access Management

Authentication Settings

1. Enable Two-Factor Authentication

   • Go to Organization Settings > Security
   • Choose 2FA policy:
     • Optional: Recommended for team members
     • Required: Enforced for all users
     • Admin Only: Required for admin roles only

2. Session Management

   • Set Session Timeout: Auto-logout after inactivity
   • Configure Login Notifications: Alert on new device logins
   • Enable Suspicious Activity Alerts: Unusual login patterns

Single Sign-On (Enterprise)

1. Configure SSO Provider

   • Go to Organization Settings > Authentication
   • Select your SSO provider (SAML, OIDC, Google Workspace, etc.)
   • Configure provider settings and domain mapping

2. User Provisioning

   • Enable Auto-Provisioning: Automatically create accounts
   • Set Default Role: Role assigned to new SSO users
   • Configure Group Mapping: Map SSO groups to 9n9s roles

Access Audit and Monitoring

1. Review Team Access

   • Use Access Review feature to audit permissions quarterly
   • Check for Unused Accounts: Deactivate inactive users
   • Review Role Assignments: Ensure least-privilege access

2. Audit Logging

   • Enable Audit Logs to track all team actions
   • Monitor Permission Changes: Who modified access settings
   • Track Resource Access: What team members accessed

Team Collaboration Best Practices

Communication Guidelines

1. Alert Escalation Paths

   • Document clear escalation procedures
   • Include backup contacts for critical alerts
   • Set up rotation schedules for on-call duties

2. Incident Response

   • Define roles during incidents
   • Set up war room communication channels
   • Create post-incident review processes

Monitor Organization

1. Naming Conventions

   • Use consistent monitor naming: [Service] - [Environment] - [Check Type]
   • Example: “User API - Production - Health Check”
   • Include team abbreviations: “BE-UserAPI-Prod-Health”

2. Tagging Strategy

   Required Tags:
   - environment: production/staging/development
   - team: backend/frontend/platform/data
   - service: api/web/database/cache
   - criticality: critical/high/medium/low
   
   Optional Tags:
   - owner: individual.responsible
   - component: specific.component
   - region: us-east-1/eu-west-1

3. Documentation Standards

   • Every monitor should have a clear description
   • Include links to relevant runbooks
   • Document expected behavior and common fixes

Onboarding New Team Members

1. Onboarding Checklist

   • Send organization invitation
   • Assign appropriate role and project access
   • Add to relevant Slack/communication channels
   • Share team monitoring documentation
   • Schedule walkthrough of critical monitors
   • Review alert procedures and escalation paths

2. Training Materials

   • Create team-specific 9n9s documentation
   • Record video walkthroughs of common tasks
   • Maintain FAQ for common questions
   • Set up mentorship program for new engineers

Advanced Team Features

API Keys for Automation

1. Team API Keys

   • Create Service Account API keys for automation
   • Scope keys to specific projects or permissions
   • Rotate keys regularly for security
   • Use separate keys for different services/teams

2. Key Management

   • Document which keys are used where
   • Set expiration dates for temporary access
   • Monitor API key usage and activity
   • Revoke unused or compromised keys immediately

Integration with Development Workflow

1. CI/CD Integration

   • Add 9n9s monitoring to deployment pipelines
   • Automatically create monitors for new services
   • Update monitor configurations with deployments
   • Link monitoring to source code repositories

2. Developer Tools Integration

   • Connect with incident management tools
   • Integrate with team chat platforms (Slack, Teams)
   • Link to APM and logging platforms
   • Connect with ticketing systems (Jira, GitHub Issues)

Troubleshooting Team Setup

Common Issues

Invitation Problems:

1. Email Not Received: Check spam folders, verify email address
2. Invitation Expired: Resend invitation with longer expiration
3. Wrong Permissions: Update user role after they accept invitation

Permission Issues:

1. Can’t Access Project: Check project-level permissions
2. Can’t Create Monitors: Verify user has Editor or Admin role
3. Missing Notifications: Check notification channel access

SSO Configuration:

1. Login Failures: Verify SSO provider configuration
2. Role Mapping Issues: Check group mappings and default roles
3. Provisioning Problems: Review auto-provisioning settings

Getting Help

Support Resources:

1. Documentation: Detailed guides in Account Management
2. Support Chat: Use in-app chat for quick questions
3. Email Support: [email protected] for complex issues
4. Community: Join our Discord for peer support

CLI Reference

For automation and advanced team management:

• CLI Team Commands
• Organization API
• User Management API

Next Steps

After setting up your team:

1. Configure advanced alerts: Set up team-specific alerting
2. Create status pages: Provide transparency to stakeholders
3. Set up integrations: Connect with your existing tools
4. Implement security practices: Secure your monitoring setup

A well-organized team structure is the foundation for effective collaborative monitoring. Take time to establish clear roles, permissions, and workflows that will scale as your team grows.