A method and apparatuses are provided for data collection from network elements in a network. A collector sends a data request to one of the network elements. The collector determines whether a condition exists regarding the network element. When the collector determines that the condition exists, the collector stops the data collection from the network element without affecting the data collection by the collector from other network elements, the data collection remains stopped until the collector is notified that the condition no longer exists, and the collector sends a message to the validator to inform the validator of the condition. In another aspect, a validator is informed of a configuration change of one of a group of network elements. The validator requests at least a portion of configuration information of the network element, determines optimum configuration parameters for data collection, and sends the optimum configuration parameters to a collector.