An automated method and system for the implementation of a hierarchical event relationship network for correlation analysis in a distributed computing environment in which events are defined based on a connected graph model. Event handling information for each event type to be monitored is used to customize a plurality of rule templates for each type within an event source, where the event source is a hardware component, an application software component or an operating system platform. A plurality of event relationship network rules are verified to ensure they do not violate an event protocol. A hierarchical class definition and naming structure is generated from the plurality of event relationship network rules for each event source. Event management rules are then generated automatically for each event type from the event relationship network rules and the rule templates. The event management rules are loaded into a rule-based event manager. The performance of the rule-based event manager is then monitored.