In the ever-evolving landscape of cloud-native operations, organizations face a multifaceted challenge in delivering reliable and resilient experiences at the intersection of their customers and their digital experience.
The world is now at a crossroads where a seemingly simple user action, such as checking the status of an order for a customer, initiates a series of calls and requests on the backend. This complex journey includes phases such as API gateway validation, authentication, product availability confirmation, shopping cart and credit card processing, payment validation, order preparation and delivery logistics. Imagine this process multiplied by the countless actions performed in a single day in different applications. The result is amazing and yet applications not only function, but so often fail to complete this process.
However, there are some critical challenges that enterprises may face when confronted with the problem of complex, large, volatile environments – used to deliver modern applications – that impact the customer’s digital experience and ultimately on operating income. This complexity can create obstacles for companies striving to ensure seamless customer experiences in an environment defined by distributed applications and varied touchpoints.
Addressing these challenges requires end-to-end visibility – starting with direct observations of the digital experience from the web stack through debugging lines of code across the application stack. Traditional tools can often fall short when it comes to cloud-native complexities because they only indirectly tap into a user’s entire digital experience, ignoring critical components of the internet stack. But with an Internet-centric tracking solution that provides detailed insights across the broader scope of Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM) platforms, the software that has emerged is a game-changer in navigating the intricacies of modern application delivery.
Tracing enables end-to-end monitoring of distributed applications regardless of their deployment on physical devices, virtual machines or containers. As part of IPM, Tracing provides detailed insight into the interactions between services and associated resources, such as databases, caches, and queues. This allows organizations to analyze resource usage, troubleshoot and debug applications at a level of granularity that complements IPM’s broader performance metrics.
Product Marketing Director, Catchpoint.
The Everest of modern software development
The increase in cloud computing and cloud-native practices has introduced unprecedented complexity and distribution. Effectively monitoring this complexity is the Everest of modern software development. The complex nature of a single user action and the resulting convoluted journey it then takes through backend processes has driven the evolution of monitoring solutions as IPM has become even more important.
Integrating tracking capabilities within IPM provides true end-to-end management and visibility. This integration extends from the user experience to the backend and addresses the following pain points for organizations:
Overcoming vision blind spots: One of the key challenges in cloud-native operations is overcoming visibility blind spots. As companies expand their workforces into diverse environments or expand into new markets for their customers, ensuring comprehensive visibility becomes increasingly complex. IPM, enhanced with trace data, helps streamline incident management, allowing teams to understand dependencies, assess the impact of migration or updates, and identify specific parts of the application in the event of incidents, providing a more complete view of the performance of the system.
Balance between innovation and reliability: A delicate balance is needed between innovation and reliability. As companies push for more innovative features, ITOps teams must maintain application reliability. End-to-end monitoring through IPM, supplemented with tracking insights, facilitates a harmonious relationship between development and operations, reducing finger-pointing and promoting an impeccable culture. This integration also enables ITOps to gain valuable insights for delivering resilient and fast application experiences. Managing this balance, breaking down silos and fostering a culture that harmonizes the demands of development and operations, is critical to success.
Optimize application speed: In an age where speed is paramount, the importance of optimizing application performance cannot be overstated. Although traditionally the domain of developers, application performance optimization is now a collaborative effort between developers and ITOps teams, supported by insights from both IPM and tracing. IPM, with its tracing component, allows ITOps to assess factors that impact application speed, complementing developers’ expertise. This collaborative approach ensures that application performance is not only innovative, but also meets the speed requirements critical to a superior user experience.
Navigate ecosystems with data-driven insights: Within modern ecosystems, the demand for a data-driven approach is greater than ever. IPM, integrated with tracing and supported by standards such as OpenTelemetry (OTEL), effectively navigates these ecosystems. ITOps teams must be equipped to support multiple protocols, adopt standards like OpenTelemetry (OTEL), and break free from proprietary lock-ins. By adhering to OTEL standards, which provide a uniform method for tracking and collecting performance data, ITOps teams ensure interoperability and improved visibility. This approach streamlines the monitoring and management of various elements within the IT infrastructure, using both IPM and tracking data for comprehensive insights.
General
As companies look to improve their application monitoring strategies in this cloud-native era, integrating tracing within IPM becomes crucial. This integration supports the delicate balance between innovation and reliability required by ITOps teams. The collaboration between developers and ITOps, supported by both IPM and tracing, optimizes application speed. Finally, navigating ecosystems with data-driven insights, supported by both IPM and tracing capabilities, becomes essential in today’s dynamic computing landscape. This comprehensive approach provides organizations with the capabilities needed to overcome challenges and ensure a seamless, high-quality digital experience for customers.
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