Security

Experts Share How SMBs Can Achieve Full-Stack IT Observability

Observability offers a better approach than traditional monitoring, closing blind spots and security gaps.

J.P. Pressley

J.P. Pressley is a former editor at Manifest and contributor at BizTech magazine.

Lily Lopate

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Lily is a Senior Editor at BizTech Magazine. She follows tech trends, thought leadership and data analytics.

Observability is “the next iteration of traditional monitoring,” says Mark Beckendorf, head of full-stack observability for digital velocity at CDW.

As a small to medium-sized business's system grows, developers and operations often have insufficient visibility into key metrics and data. Since IT teams can’t protect what they can’t see, observability services can help determine where issues lie, so teams can spend less time finding problems and more time solving them.

“Observability is not just the infrastructure monitoring that an organization may have, it’s also the application and bringing all of that data together to one particular point, so it can be mined to have some predictability,” says Davandra Panchal, observability enterprise architect and principal consultant at CDW.

Here’s how IT leaders can implement a proactive, full-stack observability approach.

Set Your Observability Goals, Then Reverse Engineer From There

SMBs must start with a robust evaluation of their IT environment and priorities. IT leaders need to determine what they hope to achieve, whether that’s gaining visibility into all of the applications, identifying errors or logging gaps in connectivity. Once goals are set, CDW experts recommend reverse engineering from there to get applications and data in order.

According to Panchal, an organization’s unique observability framework should be built on what this evaluation reveals. For instance, if one team barely has any observability tools, it might start with more fundamental framework builds, such as adequate network monitoring, server database monitoring and application monitoring. If an SMB already has those tools in place, it might opt to run AIOps.

After decision-makers assess and select the right tools and services, it’s time to deploy and configure the tools and test them through use cases. At this stage, a tech partner can develop a custom observability pipeline and create proofs of concept. At CDW, this starts with a robust evaluation of an organization’s IT environment, and priorities are set from there.

Observability is not just the infrastructure monitoring that an organization may have, it’s also bringing all of that data together to one particular point, so it can be mined to have some predictability.”

Davandra Panchal Observability Enterprise Architect and Principal Consultant, CDW

Build Out Your Observability Framework One Layer at a Time

There are a variety of observability tools that segment into different layers. “Each layer feeds into the next, so build out your observability framework one layer at a time,” Beckendorf says.

The fundamental layer is OpenTelemetry, an open-source observability framework that provides a standardized way to collect and analyze telemetry data (traces, metrics and logs) from applications. It helps developers understand the internal state of their systems, troubleshoot issues and optimize performance.

This raw data feeds into application performance management tools. At this second layer, developers can see system behavior, user experience and service dependencies in real time. APM provides visibility into bottlenecks, latency and error rates — critical for troubleshooting and optimization.

From there, teams can fold in AIOps. This third layer uses machine learning to detect anomalies, predict incidents and automate remediation. By layering OpenTelemetry, APM and AIOps, IT teams move from passive monitoring to intelligent, proactive operations.

Does every business need to meet all three layers? No. According to experts, the first two are the most important.

“Realistically, only the Amazons and Netflixes of the world will do the third layer,” Beckendorf says. “They’re the ones who really need this.”

The middle layer is where automated root-cause analysis comes into play. Once teams have this in place, their remediation efforts “get one thousand times better,” he says.

LEARN MORE: How to elevate your cybersecurity with CDW services.

Reduce Tool Sprawl and Overall IT Complexity

Effective observability helps manage complexity across the IT stack. SMBs often have too many tools, especially after merging with or being acquired by another company. In these instances, a tool rationalization exercise can be helpful. It scaled one company CDW worked with down from 130 different tools to about a dozen, Beckendorf says.

He says SMBs must decide which tools they actually need: “A lot of times, teams will have massive overlap in their tools. We can shrink that footprint.”

Observability tools can contribute to tech sprawl as well. According to a recent Datamation article, 70% of teams use four or more observability technologies. So, choose the tool that best simplifies your IT stack and aligns most with your business objectives.

Work With a Tech Partner Through Every Stage

Monitoring and tracking the performance of hundreds of applications across various environments is no easy feat. A tech partner can ensure that IT leaders succeed at every layer of implementation. If there are stumbling blocks, experts can help SMBs strategize.

Poor observability can be a significant business inhibitor, Panchal says: “You can’t grow unless you can at least manage the basic services an organization provides.”

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