What is log management? Expert guide and key steps in the log management process

**Log management is a critical process for handling log data, including generating, aggregating, storing, analyzing, archiving, and disposing of logs. It's essential for modern businesses to ensure security, compliance, performance optimization, incident detection and response, root cause analysis, and data-driven decision-making. Log management involves the entire logging lifecycle, from creation to archival or deletion, and requires a comprehensive solution with features such as flexible instrumentation, compatible log forwarding, powerful querying, secure data storage, and indexing for efficient querying and analysis. Successful log management enables businesses to reduce context switching, find and fix problems faster, instantly search logs for needed data, visualize all data in a single place, and optimize resource efficiency. It's crucial to understand the basics of log management to make informed decisions about an effective strategy.