We’ve spoken previously about the role of observability in both the traditional IT service-level agreement (SLA) model and the newer experience-level agreement (XLA) model. But, as more organizations recognize the importance of prioritizing digital employee experience (DEX), where does observability sit in IT practices today?

Let’s consider three key observability trends from 2023:

1. Consolidated observability

According to recent research focused on the evolution of observability, organizations are using fewer observability tools than they did in 2022. Instead, we are seeing an adoption of single, consolidated observability platforms. Key findings from the report indicate that full-stack observability is on the rise, and tool consolidation is preferred.

Overall, the research shows that investing in observability pays off, with IT decision-makers seeing clear benefits from their observability solutions. For example:

  • 46% of practitioners say observability increases productivity
  • 35% of IT decision-makers say observability helps them achieve KPIs
  • 40% of respondents experience improved system uptime and reliability

2. Increased investment in observability

The increasing complexity of modern IT estates leaves enterprises with new challenges when it comes to having a clear picture of their infrastructure’s performance and health. And the integration of advancing technologies like AI and machine learning only adds to this. As such, investing in tools that increase an enterprise’s visibility into its IT estate is a priority.

“There is a direct relationship between performance, speed, and revenue of a business, and what observability does is to ensure that businesses have all the data they need in the right cadence so they can achieve their goals of availability, functionality, performance, and better return on investment – Stephane Estevez, EMEA Director of Product Marketing, Splunk

To address the issues that come with poor visibility, more businesses are investing in observability platforms that offer end-to-end visibility. In fact, the observability market is projected to hit $4.1 billion by 2028.

3. Off-the-charts observability ROI

Observability efforts are helping organizations identify and resolve problems faster, improve visibility into hybrid ecosystems, and secure applications better, according to a 2023 research report by Splunk.

Their findings show that the ROI of observability outweighs the cost of the tools, with 64% of respondents stating their ROI has exceeded expectations. Some of the areas respondents identified as positively impacted by observability solutions include: 

  • Problem detection time (83%) 
  • Problem resolution time (82%) 
  • Application security (81%) 
  • Visibility across cloud-native and traditional apps (81%) 
  • Alignment between IT ops, developers, and security teams (80%)
     

Do you want to learn more about observability solutions for digital experience? Read on here!