Highlights for each capability

Uses artificial intelligence (AI) to improve processes and gain insights.

Only 41% of survey respondents had deployed AIOps (increased by 10% from 2022). Despite the notable increase year-over-year (YoY), AIOps is one of the least-deployed capabilities. However, 27% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 14% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 68% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 82% expected to deploy AIOps by 2026. Only 11% did not expect to deploy AIOps, and 7% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were the most likely to say they currently deploy AIOps (48%). While respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy AIOps and have no plans to add it (17%) compared to those from Asia Pacific (9%) and Europe (7%).

For those who have not yet deployed AIOps, the strategy is worth reconsidering: 70% of respondents who said they currently deploy AIOps said their organization’s mean time to resolution (MTTR) improved since adopting observability (70%), including 37% who said it improved by 25% or more.

When asked to what extent their organization anticipates using AIOps in its incident detection and remediation workflows one year from now, more respondents indicated manual configuration to some extent (44%) compared to AI-led to some extent (26%) and roughly equally manually-configured and AI-led (26%) by a wide margin. Of the respondents who said they plan to deploy AIOps in the next year, 40% anticipated it being more manually configured and 25% more AI-led.

Provides notifications triggered by an important event, such as an error.

Two-thirds (66%) of survey respondents had deployed alerts (increased by 27% from 2022), making it the fourth-most deployed capability once again. Plus, 20% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 8% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 86% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 94% expected to deploy alerts by 2026. Only 4% did not expect to deploy alerts, and 3% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they currently deploy alerts (78%), while those surveyed in Asia Pacific were the least likely (59%).

More than two-thirds (67%) who said they currently deploy alerts also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 32% who said it improved by 25% or more.

In addition, for the second year in a row, the data predicts a positive association between alerts and a faster mean time to detection (MTTD)/MTTR of less than 30 minutes.

Monitors applications for performance and errors.

More than half (53%) of survey respondents had deployed APM (increased by 17% from 2022), 25% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 11% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 78% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 89% expected to deploy APM by 2026. Only 6% did not expect to deploy APM, and 5% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy APM and have no plans to add it (10%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (4%) and Europe (4%).

More than two-thirds (69%) who said they currently deploy APM also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 35% who said it improved by 25% or more.

Either APM or serverless monitoring—or both—are required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Tracks browser and web application activity and performance.

More than half (55%) of survey respondents had deployed browser monitoring (increased by 12% from 2022), 21% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 9% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 75% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 84% expected to deploy browser monitoring by 2026. Only 10% did not expect to deploy browser monitoring, and 6% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy browser monitoring and have no plans to add it (18%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (6%) and Europe (7%).

These deployment plans align with the fact that 35% said an increased focus on customer experience management is driving the need for observability at their organizations, and 34% said observability improves revenue retention by deepening understanding of customer behaviors (browser monitoring is a key component of both real user monitoring (RUM) and digital experience monitoring (DEM).

Almost two-thirds (64%) who said they currently deploy browser monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 33% who said it improved by 25% or more.

More than a quarter (27%) said an improved real-user experience is a primary benefit enabled by their organization’s observability solution. And 17% said reputation loss due to a worsened customer experience would be the most significant business outcome if their organization did not have an observability solution.

Either browser monitoring, mobile monitoring, synthetic monitoring, or some combination of the three is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Provides an overview of important monitoring metrics.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of survey respondents had deployed dashboards (increased by 40% from 2022—the most significant increase of any capability year-over-year), 19% expected to deploy them in the next year, and 8% expected to deploy them in two to three years. These results mean 85% expected to deploy them by 2024, and 92% expected to deploy dashboards by 2026. Only 5% did not expect to deploy dashboards, and 3% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they currently deploy dashboards (73%), while those surveyed in Asia Pacific were the least likely (60%). Those surveyed in Europe were the least likely to say they do not currently deploy dashboards and have no plans to add them (2%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (6%) and North America (5%).

More than two-thirds (68%) who said they currently deploy dashboards also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 35% who said it improved by 25% or more.

About a third (32%) of IT decision makers (ITDM) respondents said that observability helps improve their lives the most by enabling data visualization from a single dashboard.

In addition, for the second year in a row, the data predicts a positive association between dashboards and a faster MTTD/MTTR of less than 30 minutes.

However, only 27% of respondents said their users broadly have access to telemetry data and visualizations. And just 27% said their organization’s telemetry data includes business context to quantify the business impact of events and incidents.

Gathers essential performance metrics to measure and optimize database performance.

More than two-thirds (68%) of survey respondents had deployed database monitoring (increased by 27% from 2022), making it the third-most deployed capability once again. Plus, 18% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 7% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 86% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 93% expected to deploy database monitoring by 2026. Only 5% did not expect to deploy database monitoring, and 2% were unsure.

More than two-thirds (68%) who said they currently deploy database monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 34% who said it improved by 25% or more.

Either database monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, network monitoring, or some combination of the three is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Tracks and observes service requests as they flow through distributed systems.

Only 29% of respondents had deployed distributed tracing (decreased by 20% from 2022). However, another 29% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 15% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean that while distributed tracing was the third-least deployed capability, 58% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 73% expected to deploy distributed tracing by 2026. However, 13% did not expect to deploy distributed tracing, and another 13% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were the most likely to say they currently deploy or plan to deploy distributed tracing (84%), while those surveyed in North America were the least likely (54%).

Nearly two-thirds (65%) who said they currently deploy distributed tracing also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 36% who said it improved by 25% or more.

Tracks and traces errors to troubleshoot issues.

Half (50%) of the survey respondents had deployed error tracking (increased by 3% from 2022), 26% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 10% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 76% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 86% expected to deploy error tracking by 2026. Only 8% did not expect to deploy error tracking, and 7% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy error tracking and have no plans to add it (11%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (6%) and Europe (8%).

More than two-thirds (69%) who said they currently deploy error tracking also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 36% who said it improved by 25% or more.

In addition, the data predicts a positive association between error tracking and a faster MTTD/MTTR of less than 30 minutes.

Monitors network infrastructure like servers.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of the survey respondents had deployed infrastructure monitoring (increased by 28% from 2022), making it the sixth-most deployed capability. Plus, 20% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 8% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 85% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 93% expected to deploy infrastructure monitoring by 2026. Only 4% did not expect to deploy infrastructure monitoring, and 3% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they currently deploy infrastructure monitoring (78%), while those surveyed in Asia Pacific were the least likely (58%).

More than two-thirds (68%) who said they currently deploy infrastructure monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 34% who said it improved by 25% or more.

In addition, for the second year in a row, the data predicts a positive association between infrastructure monitoring and a faster MTTD/MTTR of less than 30 minutes.

Either infrastructure monitoring, database monitoring, network monitoring, or some combination of the three is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Monitors Kubernetes (K8s) deployments by providing visibility into clusters and workloads.

Just 29% of respondents had deployed Kubernetes monitoring (decreased by 15% from 2022), 27% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 16% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean that while Kubernetes monitoring was the second-least deployed capability, 55% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 71% expected to deploy Kubernetes monitoring by 2026. However, 16% did not expect to deploy Kubernetes monitoring, and 13% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy Kubernetes monitoring and have no plans to add it (23%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (14%) and Europe (14%).

These findings align with the fact that 38% said the development of cloud-native application architectures is driving the need for observability at their organization, with respondents from the IT/telco industry being the most likely to say it’s a driver (48%), followed by healthcare/pharma (45%), and services/consulting (40%), while those from the government were the least likely (22%), followed by nonprofit (23%), and education (28%). And 28% said the containerization of applications and workloads is driving the need for observability at their organization, with respondents from the retail/consumer industry being the most likely to say it’s a driver (34%), followed by financials/insurance (32%), while those from energy/utilities were the least likely (21%).

More than two-thirds (69%) who said they currently deploy Kubernetes monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 39% who said it improved by 25% or more.

In addition, the data predicts a positive association between Kubernetes monitoring and a faster MTTD/MTTR of less than 30 minutes.

Stores and searches error and event logs.

Almost two-thirds (62%) of survey respondents had deployed log management (increased by 22% from 2022), making it the seventh-most deployed capability. Plus, 21% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 9% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 82% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 91% expected to deploy log management by 2026. Only 5% did not expect to deploy logs, and 3% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they currently deploy log management (70%), while those surveyed in Europe were the least likely (56%).

More than two-thirds (68%) who said they currently deploy log management also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 35% who said it improved by 25% or more.

In addition, more than any other capability, the data predicts a positive association between log management and a faster MTTD/MTTR of less than 30 minutes. Log management is statistically significant within 5% significance levels.

Log management is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Monitors machine-learning-model performance.

Only 29% of survey respondents had deployed machine learning (ML) model performance monitoring (MLOps; decreased by 14% from 2022), 31% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 17% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean that while ML model performance monitoring was one of the least deployed capabilities, 61% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 77% expected to deploy ML model performance monitoring by 2026. However, 13% did not expect to deploy ML model performance monitoring, and 9% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were the most likely to say they currently deploy or plan to deploy ML model performance monitoring (86%). While respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy ML model performance monitoring and have no plans to add it (21%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (8%) and Europe (15%).

More than two-thirds (67%) who said they currently deploy ML model performance monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 37% who said it improved by 25% or more.

Monitors mobile application and device performance.

About two in five (41%) survey respondents had deployed mobile monitoring (decreased by 5% from 2022), 25% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 13% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 66% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 80% expected to deploy mobile monitoring by 2026. However, 13% did not expect to deploy mobile monitoring, and 7% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy mobile monitoring and have no plans to add it (19%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (9%) and Europe (14%).

These deployment plans align with the fact that 35% said an increased focus on customer experience management is driving the need for observability at their organizations and 34% said observability improves revenue retention by deepening understanding of customer behaviors (mobile monitoring is a key component of both RUM and DEM).

Nearly two-thirds (64%) who said they currently deploy mobile monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 34% who said it improved by 25% or more.

More than a quarter (27%) said an improved real-user experience is a primary benefit enabled by their organization’s observability solution. And 17% said reputation loss due to a worsened customer experience would be the most significant business outcome if their organization did not have an observability solution.

In addition, the data predicts a positive association between mobile monitoring and a faster MTTD/MTTR of less than 30 minutes.

Either mobile monitoring, browser monitoring, synthetic monitoring, or some combination of the three is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Monitors network traffic and performance metrics.

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of survey respondents had deployed network monitoring (increased by 31% from 2022), making it the second-most deployed capability. Plus, 16% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 6% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 90% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 96% expected to deploy network monitoring by 2026. Only 2% did not expect to deploy network monitoring, and another 2% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they currently deploy network monitoring (81%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (70%) and Europe (73%).

Two-thirds (66%) who said they currently deploy network monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 33% who said it improved by 25% or more.

Either network monitoring, database monitoring, infrastructure monitoring, or some combination of the three is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Collects and analyzes vulnerability indicators of potential security threats.

Three-quarters (75%) of survey respondents had deployed security monitoring (increased by 34% in 2022), making it the most deployed capability. Plus, 15% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 7% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 89% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 96% expected to deploy security monitoring by 2026. Only 2% did not expect to deploy security monitoring, and another 2% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they currently deploy security monitoring (81% compared to 72% in Asia Pacific and Europe).

These deployment plans align with the fact that 49% said an increased focus on security, governance, risk, and compliance is driving the need for observability at their organization in both 2022 and 2023. ITDMs were much more likely to say it’s a driver (56%) than practitioners (46%). And respondents surveyed in North America were much more likely to say it’s a driver (58%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (44%) and Europe (48%).

In addition, 34% said security vulnerability management is a primary benefit enabled by their organization’s observability solution.

More than two-thirds (67%) who said they currently deploy security monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 32% who said it improved by 25% or more.

When asked how incorporating DevSecOps in their organization’s observability practice helped improve security the most, the top answers were:

1. Improved the security and availability of applications: 38%
2. Identified and mitigated security risks earlier: 36%
3. Improved collaboration with the security team: 35%
4. Increased security at every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC): 34%
5. Reduced the number of security incidents per month: 28%

Only 4% said they had not adopted DevSecOps in their observability practice.

Security monitoring is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Monitors serverless application performance metrics and errors.

Just 32% of survey respondents had deployed serverless monitoring (decreased by 17% from 2022), 28% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 16% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean that while serverless monitoring was one of the least deployed capabilities, 60% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 76% expected to deploy serverless monitoring by 2026. However, 12% did not expect to deploy serverless monitoring, and another 12% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were the most likely to say they currently deploy or plan to deploy serverless monitoring (83%). While respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy serverless monitoring and have no plans to add it (17%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (9%) and Europe (13%).

These findings align with the fact that 27% of respondents said the adoption of serverless computing is driving the need for observability at their organization. Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were more likely to say it’s a driver (30%) compared to those surveyed in Europe (23%) and North America (24%), as well as those from the IT/telco industry (31.9%), while those from the nonprofit (15.4%) and government (16.0%) sectors were the least likely.

Nearly two-thirds (65%) who said they currently deploy serverless monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 35% who said it improved by 25% or more.

Either APM, serverless monitoring, or both are required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).

Monitors simulated usage to predict performance.

Only 23% of survey respondents had deployed synthetic monitoring (decreased by 34% from 2022—the most significant decrease of any capability YoY), making it the least deployed capability. But 29% expected to deploy it in the next year, and 15% expected to deploy it in two to three years. These results mean 51% expected to deploy it by 2024, and 67% expected to deploy synthetic monitoring by 2026. However, 15% did not expect to deploy synthetic monitoring, and 18% were unsure.

Respondents surveyed in Asia Pacific were the most likely to say they currently deploy or plan to deploy synthetic monitoring (78%). While respondents surveyed in North America were the most likely to say they do not currently deploy synthetic monitoring and have no plans to add it (24%) compared to those surveyed in Asia Pacific (11%) and Europe (12%).

These deployment plans align with the fact that 35% said an increased focus on customer experience management is driving the need for observability at their organizations and 34% said observability improves revenue retention by deepening understanding of customer behaviors (synthetic monitoring is a key component of DEM).

More than two-thirds (63%) who said they currently deploy synthetic monitoring also said their organization’s MTTR improved since adopting observability, including 36% who said it improved by 25% or more.

And 17% said reputation loss due to a worsened customer experience would be the most significant business outcome if their organization did not have an observability solution.

Either synthetic monitoring, browser monitoring, mobile monitoring, or some combination of the three is required for full-stack observability (by the report’s definition).