O11y (pronounced Ollie) is an abbreviation for observability, which is the real-time data visibility of your entire technology stack. O11y enables businesses to monitor and analyze the performance and issues of networks, applications, storage, cloud deployments, infrastructure, and system output.
According to Chris Riley from Splunk, the meaning behind O11y is simply a breakdown of the word “Observability.” If you take the first letter, “O,” and the last letter, “Y,” and count the remaining letters in between, you get 11. Put it all together, and you get “O11y”!
Think of O11y vs. Observability as you would pop vs. soda, sneakers vs. shoes, and supper vs. dinner—various labels that describe the same thing.
O11y provides end-to-end performance monitoring, which allows organizations to monitor an application’s entire lifecycle, from front-end user interactions to back-end processes. Implementing a comprehensive view helps identify performance issues and failures before they impact the end users, ensuring seamless service. Organizations can prevent downtime through early detection, thereby avoiding additional costs associated with lost productivity and customer dissatisfaction.
Peeling back the layers of individual system outputs allows organizations to pinpoint specific areas within the technology stack that may be causing issues. Achieving a granular level of insight enables IT teams to troubleshoot more effectively by isolating the exact source of a problem, whether it be within the network, application, or infrastructure. O11y’s targeted approach accelerates the resolution process and reduces the likelihood of recurring issues, leading to more stable and reliable system performance.
Gaining insights into service delivery, system dependencies, and cross-domain data correlation is essential for understanding the complex interactions within modern IT environments. These insights enable IT teams to see how different infrastructure components affect each other. A holistic understanding helps ensure a smooth and efficient operation.
Improved diagnosis speed is critical for maintaining high levels of user satisfaction and operational efficiency. When issues arise, the ability to quickly diagnose and resolve them minimizes disruption to services. Faster resolution times mean users experience fewer interruptions and can continue their activities with minimal delay.
Consolidating these benefits under a single application simplifies your IT teams’ management and monitoring process. A unified solution eliminates the need for multiple disparate tools, reducing complexity and potential integration issues. This allows for more efficient monitoring and faster access to critical information, essential for timely decision-making.
Organizations can enhance their operational agility, reduce overhead costs, and ensure a more cohesive and responsive IT environment that supports a superior end-user experience by having all functionalities within a single application.
OpenTelemetry, or OTEL, is an open-source project consolidating tool that standardizes observability data across various platforms, languages, and frameworks. OTEL empowers developers and operators to gain holistic visibility into their entire stack, from the front end to the back end and beyond, by providing a unified approach to collecting, processing, and exporting telemetry data.
Traditional monitoring creates silos and visibility gaps; Xigent’s O11y services offer a comprehensive view, helping customers to fast-track service level objectives across monitoring domains, including application, network, database, infrastructure, and SaaS performance monitoring, all while aligning to business objectives like customer experience, retention, and business operations.
Xigent understands the adoption of O11y includes technology and process change and provides customers with years of industry experience by implementing integrated end-to-end visibility solutions for enterprise customers. Xigent implemented O11y for one of Midwest’s largest banking and credit card organizations, allowing them to improve customer service and online capabilities.
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