+1 for Statistical process control, there's some useful information here on Step Detection.
For SPC it's not too hard to write an implementation of either the Western Electric Rules or the Nelson Rules.
Just make a USP in SQL server that will iterate through a data set and ping each point against the rules using its neighbouring points. Maybe sum up the number of errors by hour (depending on your needs).
This kind of relates to a question I posted on Stack Overflow a while back (have just penned a quick answer if it helps): Statistical Process Control Charts in SQL Server 2008 R2Statistical Process Control Charts in SQL Server 2008 R2