Summary: In this article, we address the common myth that observability is only relevant and beneficial for large-scale systems. Observability refers to the ability to gain insights into a system’s internal behavior based on external outputs or signals. It is essential for IT teams to understand system performance, identify problems, and troubleshoot effectively. While observability is beneficial for large-scale systems, it is equally valuable for smaller organizations, start-ups, and individual developers working on personal projects. Implementing observability practices can help these entities diagnose issues, optimize systems, and ensure better user experiences.

Why is this a myth?

The misconception that observability is only relevant for large-scale systems can deter smaller organizations or teams from adopting observability practices. However, even simple web applications within smaller systems can benefit from observability by implementing basic logging and metrics. By tracking user interactions, request/response times, and error rates, developers can detect anomalies and identify areas for improvement, resulting in a better user experience and application success.

Fact: Observability benefits systems of all sizes

Observability is valuable for gaining insights into system behavior, identifying performance bottlenecks, and effectively troubleshooting issues. Even simple applications can benefit from observability by proactively monitoring critical components and detecting anomalies early on. In the case of microservices architecture, where interactions and dependencies between services can become complex, observability becomes crucial for tracing requests, measuring latency, and pinpointing performance issues.

Start-ups and small companies that are rapidly scaling can greatly benefit from observability. As their systems grow in complexity, adopting observability early on helps build a solid foundation for monitoring and troubleshooting, ensuring smoother growth and minimizing unexpected issues. Even individual developers working on personal projects can gain insights from observability, spotting problems early and creating more robust and reliable applications.

There are real-life examples that highlight the importance of observability, such as a financial services firm losing over $400 million in less than an hour due to a software glitch caused by a code deployment error. This incident underscores the criticality of observability in industries like financial systems, where seemingly small errors can have severe consequences.

Observability provides essential insights and diagnostic capabilities for systems of all sizes and architectures, resulting in better system performance, greater reliability, and better user experiences. It is vital for organizations, regardless of their size, to consider implementing observability as an integral part of their software engineering and monitoring practices to stay competitive and resilient in today’s technology-driven landscape.

Observability by the numbers

High performance during an unprecedented boom: During the lockdown in 2020, online commerce surged globally. GittiGidiyor, for example, saw a mobile sales revenue increase of 82% and accommodated a 4-5x increase in overall volume during Black Friday.

Improving patient outcomes: Companies like Mayden use observability to support the delivery of mental health services. Their product, iaptus, helps deliver mental health services to more than five million patients in the UK.

IBM’s approach to enterprise observability

IBM offers an observability solution called IBM Instana, designed for cloud-native environments. It provides high-fidelity data automatically and continuously, with one-second granularity and end-to-end traces. IBM Instana helps customers achieve tangible results using real-time observability.

What’s next?

In our next blog post, we will debunk another common myth about observability: “Observability is expensive.” Stay tuned to discover the broader benefits and applications that observability brings.

FAQ

1. What is observability?

Observability refers to the ability to gain insights into a system’s internal behavior based on external outputs or signals. It helps IT teams understand system performance, identify problems, and troubleshoot effectively.

2. Is observability only relevant for large-scale systems?

No, observability is beneficial for systems of all sizes, including smaller organizations, start-ups, and individual developers working on personal projects. Implementing observability practices can help diagnose issues, optimize systems, and ensure better user experiences.

3. How can observability benefit start-ups and small companies?

Start-ups and small companies that are rapidly scaling can greatly benefit from observability. As their systems grow in complexity, adopting observability early helps build a solid foundation for monitoring and troubleshooting, ensuring smoother growth and minimizing unexpected issues.

4. Can individual developers benefit from observability?

Yes, even individual developers working on personal projects can gain insights from observability. By using real-time monitoring to see relevant events and metrics during development and testing, they can spot problems early, leading to more robust and reliable applications.

5. Are there real-life examples that highlight the importance of observability?

Yes, there have been instances where the lack of observability had severe consequences. For example, a financial services firm lost over $400 million in less than an hour due to a software glitch caused by a code deployment error. This incident emphasizes the criticality of observability in industries where small errors can have significant impacts.