The 10 Principles of Observability: Guideposts on the Path to Success with Modern Software
Blog post from New Relic
Observability is becoming crucial for enterprise technology teams as they navigate the complexities introduced by new technologies like cloud computing, DevOps, and microservices. Unlike traditional monitoring, true observability provides comprehensive insights into software and systems, allowing teams to understand and address issues more effectively. A modern observability platform should be based on ten core principles, which include balancing curation and participation, supporting power users, focusing on application health, embracing change, ensuring full transparency, and delivering information quickly and precisely. It should also be open by design, allowing easy integration with other systems and preventing vendor lock-in. The platform must be user-friendly and offer a full-stack approach to handle complex environments where no single person can understand every variable. New Relic's platform exemplifies these principles by providing APIs for programmability, supporting open standards like OpenTelemetry, and ensuring a quick time to value for users.