Asia Pacific
Despite Asia Pacific being such a culturally diverse region, there were similar themes that cropped up across the board. There was a strong interest in emerging technologies, a move away from Kubernetes (K8s), and an appreciation for how observability improves collaboration across teams.
Although there were similar themes, there were also some stark contrasts between Asia Pacific and other regions. For example, Asia Pacific uses more tools for observability, on average.
Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were also the most likely to say the primary benefit of observability is business and/or revenue growth (25%). In addition, Asia Pacific had the highest median annual return on investment (114%). So it’s not surprising that C-suite advocacy was high again this year.
They were the most likely to say the primary to achieving full-stack observability is a lack of understanding of benefits (23%), indicating an opportunity for further education and enablement across the region.
IoT, AI, and security are top drivers
An increased focus on security, governance, risk, and compliance (44%) was a top observability driver again, although 18% less than last year. More than any other region, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) were key trends driving the need for observability in Asia Pacific (44% and 40% respectively). The integration of business apps like enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) into workflows was also a top driver (40%). Notably, the adoption of serverless dropped 33% year-over-year (YoY) to 30%.
Tool sprawl is still a challenge
Even though 47% preferred a single, consolidated observability platform, tool sprawl continues to be a challenge for Asia-Pacific countries, with 61% using five or more tools—more than any other region—and 26% saying it prevents them from achieving full-stack observability. In addition, 54% said they learn about interruptions with multiple monitoring tools, which is 20% more than in 2022. So it’s not surprising that 36% said they plan to consolidate tools next year.
Downtime is frequent—and expensive
Asia Pacific experiences more frequent high-business-impact outages than any other region (41% said at least once a week). More than half (54%) said it takes at least 30 minutes to detect these outages, and 64% said it takes an additional 30 minutes or more to resolve them. The cost of these outages is noteworthy—Asia Pacific was the most likely to spend $500,000 or more per hour of downtime for critical business app outages and had the highest median annual outage cost by far at $19.07 million—more than double the figure in Europe and nearly 16x that of North America.
When we look at the results for each country, the diversity of the Asia-Pacific region is apparent:
Association of Southeast Asian Nations 🇮🇩 🇲🇾 🇸🇬 🇹🇭
In the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where we surveyed respondents in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, observability was seen as an enabler of business and/or revenue growth, increased operational efficiency, and security vulnerability management. The main observability drivers were security, governance, risk, and compliance (60%) and the adoption of emerging technologies, including IoT (57%) and AI (56%).
in ASEAN have achieved full-stack observability
Tool consolidation is a priority
ASEAN as a whole indicates more unified telemetry data (43%) than siloed telemetry data (31%). More than a third said telemetry is captured across the full tech stack (34%) and that users broadly have access to telemetry data and visualizations (34%), while 44% said it’s unified in a single pane for consumption across teams.
However, 57% were using five or more tools for observability. Only 3% were using just one tool despite a much stronger stated preference for a single, consolidated platform (53%) over multiple point solutions (31%). And 26% cited too many monitoring tools as a barrier to achieving full-stack observability. So it makes sense that 48% said they plan to consolidate tools next year to get the most value out of their observability spend (ranked second only to training staff on existing tools).
Observability is on the rise
Notably, 68% in Indonesia, 60% in Malaysia, and 46% in Thailand had achieved full-stack observability by the report’s definition—making them the top three countries to have achieved it (55% had achieved it in ASEAN as a whole). An impressive 81% had 10 or more capabilities deployed in Indonesia (more than any other country by a wide margin), 64% in Thailand, and 63% in Malaysia, compared to just 27% in Singapore. Those in Indonesia were also the most likely to have a mature observability practice by the report’s definition (20%), followed by those in Malaysia (15%). For the rest, the main barriers to achieving it were a lack of strategy (32%), high costs (29%), and lack of budget (26%).
Security monitoring was the most deployed capability (85%), followed by database monitoring (84%). Kubernetes monitoring was the least deployed (25%), followed by synthetics (30%).
Outages are frequent and expensive
Nearly half (45%) of the respondents surveyed in ASEAN experienced high-business-impact outages once a week or more (Indonesia was tied with India for the highest outage frequency), 46% take at least 30 minutes to detect them, and 62% take at least 30 minutes to resolve them. Almost a third (30%) estimated that business-critical application outages cost their organization at least $500,000 per hour of downtime. The annual median outage cost was $22.73M for Indonesia (second highest of any country for all regions), $18.99M for Singapore, $10.73M for Malaysia, and $2.92M for Thailand (14% of those from Thailand said outages do not cost them revenue—more than any others). Notably, 79% in Thailand and 74% in both Indonesia and Malaysia said their MTTR improved to some extent since adopting observability (more than any other countries), compared to 44% for Singapore.
More than half (53%) learned about these outages with multiple monitoring tools and 30% with manual checks, tests, or complaints. Only 17% learned with just one observability platform (those in Thailand were the most likely at 32%).
ROI and value for observability are high
Notably, 50% of respondents surveyed in Indonesia spent $1 million or more on observability per year—more than any other country. More than a third (36%) planned to reduce spending across the board (50% in Singapore) and 44% planned to optimize engineering team size (50% in Indonesia) next year to maximize the value of their observability spend.
Indonesia and Singapore both had a median annual ROI of 167%—the highest of any other country. The median annual ROI in Malaysia was above average at 133%, while Thailand broke even. With such impressive ROI, it’s no wonder that observability advocacy was so high among the C-suite in particular (82% for the more technical focused and 74% for the less technical focused). In addition, 58% said their organization receives at least $1 million in total value per year from their observability investment. More than half (54%) said observability improves revenue retention, 41% said that business and/or revenue growth is a primary benefit of observability, and 34% said it creates revenue-generating use cases. Most (85%) see observability as a key enabler to achieve core business goals to some extent.
Australia and New Zealand 🇦🇺 🇳🇿
The most popular strategies or trends driving the need for observability in Australia and New Zealand were an increased focus on security, governance, risk, and compliance (43%), migration to a multi-cloud environment (41%), and an increased focus on customer experience management (37%). While their top observability benefits were increased operational efficiency (42%), improved system uptime and reliability (36%), and security vulnerability management (36%).
Download an infographic of the top takeaways for Australia and New Zealand.
in Australia and New Zealand planned to consolidate tools over the next year
Observability adoption is high and increasing
About two in five (41%) in New Zealand and 35% in Australia had achieved full-stack observability (by the report’s definition). And 43% in Australia and 41% in New Zealand had 10 or more capabilities deployed. However, just 18% said their telemetry was captured across the full tech stack, which is notably lower than the global average of 24%.
Most (84%) had deployed security monitoring, followed by network monitoring (76%) and dashboards (74%). Synthetic monitoring was the least deployed capability (20%), followed by Kubernetes monitoring (24%). Deployment plans for next year are ambitious, including 38% for distributed tracing, 36% for machine learning (ML) model performance monitoring, 35% for serverless monitoring, and 28% for AIOps. Just 15% did not plan to deploy new capabilities.
Outages have a substantial business impact, but observability helps
High-business-impact outages happen fairly frequently: 34% experienced them once per week or more, including 14% that experienced them at least once per day. Almost half (46%) took at least 30 minutes to detect them, and 57% took more than 30 minutes to resolve them.
This downtime has a substantial effect on the bottom line as 42% said critical business app outages cost their organization $250,000 or more per hour of downtime, which translates to a median annual outage cost of $8.5M for New Zealand and $7.37M for Australia. But observability helps—62% said their MTTR improved to some extent since adopting observability, including 26% who said it improved by 25% or more.
Siloed data and tool sprawl still a struggle
Australian and New Zealand organizations had far more siloed telemetry data (49%) than unified (28%). Less than a third said users broadly have access to telemetry data and visualizations (31%) and that it’s unified in a single pane for consumption across teams (31%).
More than half (54%) were using five or more tools for observability. However, 6% were using just one tool this year compared to 0% last year, which reflects their stronger preference for a single consolidated platform (54%) over multiple point solutions (28%). But this may change next year as almost half (46%) planned to consolidate tools over the next year to get the most value from their observability spend. In addition, 20% said too many monitoring tools and 18% said siloed data are primary challenges to achieving full-stack observability.
C-suite executives see the business value of observability
Advocacy among C-level executives remains high with 74% of the more technical-focused executives and 73% of the less technical-focused executives (down from 83% in 2022) seen as advocates of observability. When we asked executives how observability improves their life the most, their top responses were that it helps prioritize environment updates and new service rollouts (37%), establish a technology strategy (34%), and achieve business (34%) and technical (31%) KPIs.
In addition, 29% of executives said their organization receives a total annual value of $1M or more from their observability investment. And Australian organizations realized a 2x return on their observability investment, while those in New Zealand broke even.
India 🇮🇳
While Indian organizations had fairly solid observability adoption, received considerable value from their investments, and had high observability advocacy across all roles (including 77% for the more technical-focused and 74% for the less technical-focused C-suite executives), they struggled with tool fragmentation, low uptime, and high outage costs.
in India used 10+ tools for observability
AI, business apps, and cloud-native are driving the need for observability
The biggest technology strategy or trend driving the need for observability in India was the adoption of AI technologies (51%), followed by the integration of business apps like ERP and CRM into workflows (46%) and the development of cloud-native application architectures (46%). The least popular trends were the adoption of serverless computing (31%, down from 47% in 2022), followed by the containerization of applications and workflows (32%).
Tool sprawl is more widespread than average
Indian organizations used more tools than any other country by a wide margin, with a whopping 72% using five or more tools, including 30% using eight or more. Notably, no organizations used just one tool despite 51% saying they prefer a single, consolidated platform. So it’s not surprising that 34% said too many monitoring tools is the primary challenge barrier to achieving full-stack observability. However, only 33% said they plan to consolidate tools next year to maximize the value of their observability spend.
Downtime and outage costs are higher than most
More than half (54%) experienced high-business-impact outages at least once per week (tied with Indonesia for the highest outage frequency of any country), including 24% who experienced them once a day or more. And 58% said it took more than 30 minutes to detect those outages (including 32% who said it took more than 60 minutes), while 70% said it took more than 30 minutes to resolve them. These results mean that India had the highest outage frequency (tied with Indonesia) and MTTD, and the second-highest MTTR for high-business-impact outages. However, 74% said their MTTR improved to some extent since adopting observability.
Nearly half (45%) said the cost of that considerable downtime for critical business app outages was $500,000 or more per hour of downtime, including 32% who said it cost more than $1 million per hour of downtime—more than any other country. India’s median annual outage cost was also the highest at $62.79 million. To put this finding in perspective, this figure is more than triple that of Indonesia, which had the second-highest median annual outage cost.
Observability adoption is extensive and provides business value
A third (33%) had achieved full-stack observability and 6% had a mature observability practice by the report’s definitions. And 49% had 10 or more observability capabilities deployed. Consistent with the wider Asia-Pacific cohort, security monitoring was the most deployed (73%), followed by network monitoring (72%) and database monitoring (71%), while synthetic monitoring was the least deployed (27%), followed by Kubernetes monitoring (31%). However, more than a third planned to deploy synthetic monitoring (44%) and Kubernetes monitoring (37%) next year.
Nearly half (45%) spend $1 million or more on observability per year, and 51% said their organization receives $1 million or more in total value per year from that investment. The median annual ROI for India was 114%. Almost half (44%) said observability improves revenue retention, and 35% said it creates revenue-generating use cases. Plus their top observability benefits were improved system uptime and reliability (43%) and increased operational efficiency (32%).
Japan 🇯🇵
In Japan, the top strategies or trends driving the need for observability were the adoption of AI technologies (35%), migration to a multi-cloud environment (34%), and an increased focus on security, governance, risk, and compliance (30%). Although containerization and serverless were key drivers in 2022, the trend did not continue into 2023 with both decreasing 31% YoY.
in Japan used just one tool for observability—more than any other country
Outages are less frequent YoY but still expensive
Japan saw strong outage frequency improvement, with just 24% experiencing high-business-impact outages once per week or more (67% less than in 2022). They were the most likely to say they never experience outages (10%). But downtime was still high: 51% took at least 30 minutes to detect those outages, and 63% took more than 30 minutes to resolve them, including 46% that took at least 60 minutes. However, 53% said their MTTR improved to some extent since adopting observability, 40% of practitioners said it helps them find and resolve issues faster, and 30% said improved system uptime and reliability is a primary benefit.
While less frequent, those outages are still costly: 23% said critical business app outages cost $1 million or more per hour of downtime. The median annual outage cost for Japan was $14.71 million.
Observability provides business value and ROI
Half (50%) said they spend at least $500,000 per year on observability, including 26% that spend more than $1 million per year. However, 28% planned to reduce spending across the board next year to maximize the value of their observability investment.
Half said their organization receives $500,000 or more total value per year from that investment, including 42% who said they receive more than $1 million per year. So for median annual ROI, Japan broke even. In addition, 60% said observability is a key enabler to achieving their organization’s core business goals to some extent. And about a quarter said the most significant business outcomes if their organization did not have observability would be higher operation costs due to increased operational effort (25%) and revenue loss due to increased downtime (24%).
Number of tools and data visibility are decreasing
Japan generally used fewer tools YoY. Only 14% were using eight or more tools. One in 10 (10%) were using just one tool for observability—an increase of 773% from last year and more than any other country. Notably, the proportion who said they learn about interruptions with one observability platform decreased by 67% YoY. Unlike other countries, Japan shows an equal preference for a single, consolidated platform (38%; decreased by 28% YoY) and multiple point solutions (38%; more than doubled YoY). More than a quarter (28%) planned to consolidate tools next year to get the most value out of their observability investment.
They were also much more likely to say their telemetry data is more unified (46%) than more siloed (28%). However, only 31% had deployed dashboards (considerably less than any other country), 15% said their telemetry data is unified in a single pane (decreased by half YoY), and 18% said users broadly have access to telemetry data and visualizations (decreased by 23% YoY). However, 44% planned to deploy dashboards by mid-2026.
Increased observability deployment and training are future priorities
Only 30% had achieved full-stack observability and 4% had a mature observability practice by the report’s definitions. Just 16% said telemetry is captured across the full tech stack. Only 65% had deployed five or more capabilities—less than any other country. Nearly two-thirds had deployed network monitoring and security monitoring (both 64%), and 62% had deployed log management. However, despite a general decrease in the level of observability advocacy YoY, deployment plans for the next three years are ambitious, most notably for ML model performance monitoring (47%), dashboards (44%), and distributed tracing (41%).
Japan was the only country that selected a lack of skills (28%) as the primary challenge preventing their organization from achieving full-stack observability. In addition, 34% said they plan to train staff on how to best use the observability tools they have to get the most value out of their observability spend (top pick), indicating an awareness and interest in maturing their observability practice.
South Korea 🇰🇷
This year, we included South Korea in the annual Observability Forecast for the first time. Although there were some marked differences from the wider Asia-Pacific region, there were also a number of similarities, including strong observability advocacy from the C-suite (78% for more and 73% for less technical-focused executives) and similar top observability drivers and benefits.
in South Korea took 30+ minutes to detect high-business-impact outages—more than any other country
Downtime is high and MTTR perceived as less likely to improve with observability
More than a quarter (27%) experienced high-business-impact outages once or more per week, 61% said they take at least 30 minutes to detect (more than any other country), and 57% said they take more than 30 minutes to resolve, including 24% who said it takes 60 minutes or more. A quarter (25%) estimated that these critical business app outages cost at least $1 million per hour of downtime. The median annual outage cost for South Korea was $4.59 million.
Unlike those from every other country, respondents surveyed in South Korea were more likely to say their MTTR worsened to some extent since adopting observability (62%) than improved, including 26% who said it worsened by 25% or more. Just 28% said their MTTR improved to some extent—which is less than any other country by a wide margin. However, this finding is at odds with the fact that 51% of practitioners said observability helps them find and resolve issues faster, and 30% said it mitigates service disruptions and business risk.
Observability provides business value
Despite lower than average observability adoption, 60% said they spend at least $500,000 or more per year on observability, second only to Indonesia. But they were more likely to say they’d be reducing spend across the board (41%, second only to Singapore) and optimizing engineering team size (45%; second only to Indonesia) next year to maximize their observability spend.
And despite more saying their MTTR worsened since adopting observability, 51% said their organization receives at least $1 million in total value per year from its investment. The median annual ROI for South Korea was 114%. In addition, increased operational efficiency (41%) and business and/or revenue growth (26%) were cited as top observability benefits. And 41% anticipated higher operation costs due to increased operational effort if they did not have observability. More than a third said it improves revenue retention (36%) and creates revenue-generating use cases (34%). Two-thirds (66%) said it’s a key enabler for achieving their core business goals to some extent.
Observability deployment is low, but plans to increase
Only 22% had achieved full-stack observability—less than all but one other country—and just 3% had a mature observability practice (by the report’s definitions). Less than a quarter (23%) said they capture their telemetry data across the full tech stack, and 29% planned to observe less of their stack next year to maximize the value of their observability investment. Only 26% had deployed 10 or more observability capabilities—considerably less than every other country besides Japan—including network monitoring (54%), browser monitoring (50%), and log management (50%). Kubernetes monitoring was the least deployed (23%).
However, South Korea had ambitious deployment plans for the next three years, including ML model performance monitoring (63%), Kubernetes monitoring (62%), and synthetic monitoring (62%). Nearly three-quarters (70%) planned to deploy all 17 capabilities by mid-2026.
Multiple tools are preferred and tool sprawl is widespread
In contrast to others in the Asia-Pacific region, respondents surveyed in South Korea preferred multiple point solutions (44%) to a single, consolidated observability platform (32%). In fact, 70% used four or more tools for observability, including 22% who used eight or more, even though 22% said too many monitoring tools were a primary barrier to achieving full-stack observability. Just 2% used a single tool. And while 27% said they plan to consolidate tools next year to get the most value from their observability investment, it was the least popular option and less than any other country.
Despite their preference for multiple tools, only 17% said they have more siloed telemetry data, and 20% primarily learned about interruptions with one observability platform. More than a quarter (26%) said they unify their telemetry data in a single pane, and 33% said users broadly have access to telemetry data and visualizations.