In the previous articles, we discussed what observability is, the benefits it provides for businesses, and how to implement it in your IT stack. In this article, we will explore some real-world examples of businesses that have implemented observability and the benefits they have gained from it.

Observability is an increasingly critical capability for businesses operating in today's complex IT environments. It enables organisations to gain complete visibility into their systems, applications, and infrastructure and ensure that they operate at peak performance levels. Observability is particularly useful when it comes to troubleshooting issues and identifying root causes of problems.  

Netflix is a leading provider of streaming video content, with millions of subscribers worldwide. To ensure the reliability and performance of its platform, Netflix has implemented observability throughout its IT stack.  

Netflix uses tools like Atlas for distributed tracing and Spectator for monitoring to gain real-time visibility into the health and robustness of its systems. By implementing observability, Netflix can detect and resolve issues quickly, reducing downtime and improving the customer experience.

Etsy is an e-commerce platform that connects millions of buyers and sellers worldwide. To ensure the reliability and performance of its platform, Etsy has implemented observability throughout its IT stack.  

Etsy uses tools like Graphite and StatsD for monitoring and tracing to gain real-time visibility into the health and performance of its systems. By implementing observability, Etsy can detect and resolve issues quickly, reducing downtime and improving the customer experience.

New Relic is a leading provider of observability solutions, with millions of customers worldwide. New Relic's platform provides real-time visibility into the health and performance of applications and infrastructure, enabling businesses to detect and resolve issues quickly. New Relic's customers include leading companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, and Microsoft.

These are just a few high-profile examples of businesses that have implemented observability and the benefits they have gained from it, but these same benefits have been identified by a whole host of businesses in many different markets.

According to a 2022 Cisco AppDynamics survey of 1,200 IT professionals:

• 88% reported that the appetite for full-stack observability within their organisation had increased over the previous 12 months.
• 90% said the implementation of full-stack observability solutions would be a priority for their organisation in the next 12 months.
• 51% cited the growing complexity of their IT infrastructure as driving the need for full-stack observability.
• 50% reported improved IT productivity because of improved visibility across their IT stack, while 46% reported reduced IT operational costs.

In fact, we see the same themes and outcomes across our community of peers; our clients and networks:

Online Retailer: Improved Customer Experience

An online retailer faced challenges with slow page load times that were impacting the customer experience. The company implemented an observability solution to monitor application performance in real-time. This helped them identify bottlenecks and quickly make improvements. With the observability solution in place, they were able to improve page load times by 50%, resulting in a much better customer experience.

Financial Services: Resolving a Payment Processing Issue

A financial services company was experiencing a payment processing issue that was causing delays and impacting customer satisfaction. The IT team was struggling to identify the root cause of the problem. The company implemented an observability solution that provided end-to-end visibility across their systems, applications, and infrastructure. The solution helped the IT team quickly identify the root cause of the issue and make the necessary changes to resolve it.

E-commerce Platform: Capacity Planning

An e-commerce platform faced challenges with capacity planning. The company needed to ensure that they had enough infrastructure resources to handle the increased demand during peak shopping seasons. The company implemented an observability solution that provided real-time visibility into resource utilisation and performance metrics. With this solution in place, the company was able to identify the need for additional resources before peak shopping seasons and avoid any potential downtime.

Healthcare Provider: Compliance and Security

A healthcare provider faced challenges with maintaining compliance and security across their IT infrastructure. The company implemented an observability solution that provided end-to-end visibility across their systems and applications, enabling them to identify and remediate any compliance or security issues quickly. This solution helped the company avoid any potential compliance violations and ensure that patient data was secure.

Transportation and Logistics: Predictive Maintenance

A transportation and logistics company implemented an observability solution that provided real-time visibility into the performance and health of their fleet. This solution enabled the company to predict maintenance issues before they occurred and proactively schedule maintenance. With this solution in place, the company was able to reduce downtime and maintenance costs, resulting in improved operational efficiency.

Observability is a critical capability for businesses operating in complex IT environments. The above examples showcase how organisations can leverage observability solutions to improve customer experience, resolve issues, plan for capacity, maintain compliance and security, and enable predictive maintenance. With end-to-end visibility into their systems, applications, and infrastructure, organisations can make informed decisions and drive better business outcomes.

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