1. A method comprising: receiving, by a network alarm message processing system, a network alarm message provided by a network element of a network, the network alarm message being in a first message format; converting, by the network alarm message processing system, the network alarm message in the first message format to a new network alarm message defined in accordance with a network universal message format, the converting comprising: mapping content of the network alarm message in the first message format to a plurality of fields of the network universal message format based on a mapping data file associated with the first message format, translating the content of the network alarm message in the first message format based on a translation rules data file associated with the first message format, and populating the plurality of fields with the translated content to generate the new network alarm message in the network universal message format; providing, by the network alarm message processing system, the new network alarm message in the network universal message format to a network surveillance module, wherein the network surveillance module conducts surveillance of the network by performing a root-cause analysis based at least in part on the new network alarm message in the network universal message format; receiving, by the network alarm message processing system, a request to add a new mapping data file and a new translation rules data file to a storage facility of the network alarm message processing system, the new mapping data file and the new translation rules data file associated with a second message format; and adding, by the network alarm message processing system, the new mapping data file and the new translation rules data file to the storage facility for use in translating one or more network alarm messages from the second message format to the network universal message format, wherein the adding of the new mapping data file and the new translation rules data file is performed without interrupting surveillance of the network.