A computer implemented method of adjusting a monitoring system having data collection nodes with instances of templates for collecting data according to data collection rules includes receiving a data propagation path specifying a hierarchy for at least a portion of the templates, the hierarchy specifying a child template, parent templates for the child template, and an order for the parent templates. The method also includes specifying an event data collection rule for the first child template and configuring parent data collection rules for the parent templates accordingly. The parent data collection rules include a data retrieval rule for retrieving event data associated with the event data collection rule or a data aggregation rule for combining the event data associated with the event data collection rule and multiple instances of the child template. The method also includes updating the instances in the data collection nodes.