A method, system and a computer-readable media for automatically detecting that a malfunction affecting message withdrawal from a queue is present is described. In one embodiment, the malfunction is detected by evaluating the number of messages that enter and leave a queue during a period of time. For example, if the messages entering the queue do not equal the messages leaving the queue a malfunction may be present. In one embodiment, queue-performance indicator is calculated based on the number of messages leaving and entering the queue. If the queue-performance indicator is outside of the normal-operating range an alarm is generated and sent to a designated responder who can fix malfunctions associated with the queue.