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What We Learned From Our First Observability Masterclass
Host Chrystal Taylor dug deep with guests Sascha Giese and Chad Every to guide us through the finer details of observability today.
An Introduction to Unified Visibility
The Masterclass began with an introduction to the concept of observability and its relation to unified visibility. Observability is about gaining insights from various data sources across your infrastructure to make informed decisions. Unified visibility is a key component of this, enabling IT professionals to have a comprehensive view of their systems and applications.
Sascha and Chad shared their experiences and insights on how unified visibility has evolved over time. The pair emphasized that while traditional monitoring provides some level of visibility, it is limited in its ability to offer a complete picture of the infrastructure. Unified visibility, on the other hand, breaks down silos and provides a more holistic view.
They also touched on one of the biggest challenges in IT: Siloed work streams.
“Each group responsible for a particular area takes care of their own stuff, like the network guys, the server guys, the application guys. And that is probably based on human behavior, we all like to keep it to ourselves. But for managers, directors, and above, that’s not really [how it should] happen. They look at different elements, and at the big picture. So observability is another tool that could potentially bring people together and not just technology.”
Key Discussion Points
- Evolution of Visibility: Visibility has changed over the years, from being siloed to becoming more integrated.
- Importance of Collaboration: They emphasized the urgent need for different IT departments to work together, sharing information and insights to achieve unified visibility.
- Data Normalization and Interpretation: The importance of normalizing and interpreting data was highlighted as crucial for accurately interpreting the vast amounts of information collected.
- Consequences of Blind Spots: The potential consequences of not having unified visibility were discussed, including decreased performance, increased mean time to resolution, and negative impacts on business outcomes.
- Role of Observability Solutions: The presenters touched on how modern observability solutions can help bridge the gaps between different data sources and provide a more unified view.
Benefits of Unified Visibility
- Improved collaboration across IT departments
- Enhanced ability to detect and resolve issues quickly
- Better decision-making through comprehensive data analysis
- Improved business outcomes through optimized IT performance
The Masterclass included a demonstration of SolarWinds’ observability solutions, showcasing features such as:
- Health scores for monitored entities
- NetPath for understanding network traffic paths
- PerfStack for performance analysis and root cause identification
- Customizable dashboards for tailored visibility
These features were presented as examples of how unified visibility can be achieved in practice, helping IT professionals to better understand their infrastructure and make data-driven decisions.
Join us for Masterclass #2
As we conclude the first Masterclass, we invite you to join us for the next session in the series, where we’ll delve into alert fatigue. To stay updated and register for the upcoming Masterclass, please visit our website or community forums.
Don’t miss the opportunity to enhance your understanding of observability and improve your IT operations. Register now for the next Masterclass and take the first step towards achieving unified visibility and optimized performance in your organization.
The post What We Learned From Our First Observability Masterclass appeared first on SolarWinds Blog.
