Unlocking the Future of Observability: OpenTelemetry’s Role in IT Performance and Innovation
0 likes14 views
As organizations strive for real-time visibility, optimized IT efficiency, and cost-effective operations, OpenTelemetry (OTel) is emerging as a cornerstone of modern observability. Research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) reveals that over 68% of IT leaders are already familiar with OTel, with nearly half actively integrating it into their operations. Check out these slides to get insights from this research and discover how enterprises are leveraging OTel to: - Navigate the observability maturity curve - Overcome implementation challenges - Maximize ROI and business impact - Shape the future of observability
Unlocking the Future of Observability: OpenTelemetry’s Role in IT Performance and Innovation
- 1. @ema_research | @ema_research Sponsored by: Unlocking the Future of Observability: OpenTelemetry’s Role in IT Performance and Innovation Dan Twing President and COO Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) Pete Goldin Editor and Publisher APMdigest | DEVOPSdigest
- 2. @ema_research | @ema_research 2 Watch the On-Demand Webinar Unlocking the Future of Observability: OpenTelemetry’s Role in IT Performance and Innovation On-Demand Webinar: https://info.enterprisemanagement.com/opentelemetry-webinar-ss © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 3. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research Featured Speakers Dan joined EMA in 2005 and has over 25 years of experience in information systems, software development, and technology outsourcing. He focuses on all aspects of intelligent and automated management of IT. Pete has served as Editor and Publisher of APMdigest for 15 years and has over 25 years of experience writing about IT for companies such as IBM, Oracle, and Salesforce. © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 3 Dan Twing President and COO EMA Pete Goldin Editor and Publisher APMdigest | DEVOPSdigest
- 4. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research Sponsors © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 4
- 5. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research Key Trends Shaping Observability with OpenTelemetry in 2025 © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 5 ➢ AI OpenTelemetry Adoption is Accelerating Across Cloud and Hybrid Environments ➢ Interoperability and Scalability Are Driving High Expectations ➢ OpenTelemetry is Delivering Tangible Business Value ➢ Complexity and Resource Gaps Remain Top Barriers ➢ AI and Emerging Telemetry Sources Are Enhancing Observability
- 6. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 6 Online survey conducted during February 2025 Respondents include over 25% IT executives, a mix of IT managers of functional areas Which of the following best describes your function in the organization? 27.8% 27.0% 11.0% 10.8% 9.5% 3.3% 3.3% 2.8% 1.3% 0.8% 0.8% 0.8% 0.5% 0.5% 0.3% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% IT Operations IT Executive IT Security IT Service Management (ITSM) IT Development IT Cloud Platforms DevOps Director or Manager Performance and Monitoring Director or… Platform Engineering Director Infrastructure Engineer Data Architect Compliance/Audit/Risk Cloud Architect Platform Engineering Manager Site Reliability Engineer Sample Size = 400 Which of the following best describes your role in the organization? 5.5% 8.0% 15.5% 18.0% 53.0% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Individual Contributor Vice President CxO Team Leader Manager or Director Sample Size = 400
- 7. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research Demographics © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 7 In which country is your organization's headquarters located? 33.3% 11.3% 10.5% 11.5% 5.8% 9.8% 9.0% 9.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% United States United Kingdom France Germany Singapore Vietnam India South Korea North America 33.3% Europe 33.3% Asia 33.6% Respondents from Region Sample Size = 400
- 8. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research Demographics © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 8 Sample Size = 400 How many employees are in your company worldwide? 18.3% 27.5% 17.8% 19.0% 6.8% 10.8% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 500-999 1,000-2,499 2,500-4,999 5,000-9,999 10,000-19,999 20,000 or more What is your organization's annual sales revenue? 0.5% 4.0% 8.0% 24.3% 31.5% 28.5% 1.3% 2.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% Less than $1 million $1 million to under $5 million $5 million to under $20 million $20 million to under $100 million $100 million to under $1 billion $1 billion or more Not applicable; I work for a government or nonprofit agency Don’t know
- 10. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 10 Are you familiar with OpenTelemetry, the open source standard for collecting and exporting telemetry data (metrics, logs, and traces) to enable observability? 0.0% 31.8% 35.0% 33.3% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% Not at all familiar Slightly familiar Moderately familiar Very familiar Sample Size = 400 OpenTelemetry Widely Known by IT Executives, IT Operations, and Developers Enterprises with greater Observability Maturity are more likely to be aware of OpenTelemetry 0% 22% 33% 45% 0% 46% 43% 11% 0% 63% 20% 17% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Not at all familiar Slightly familiar Moderately familiar Very familiar Are you familiar with OpenTelemetry, the open source standard for collecting and exporting telemetry data to enable observability? By Observability Maturity Mature Adequate Immature © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 11. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 11 How do you assess the maturity of OpenTelemetry? 1.3% 17.8% 31.0% 27.3% 22.8% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% Not mature enough to start implementing Early stages, but showing promise Moderately mature and useful Worth implementing despite some gaps Mature enough to deliver advantages today Sample Size = 400 Just Over 50% Feel OpenTelemetry Is Mature Enough to Implement Almost all show support for where OpenTelemetry is heading © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 12. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 12 How important is OpenTelemetry as an enabler for observability? 0.5% 9.5% 28.5% 47.0% 14.5% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0% Not at all important Slightly important Moderately important Very important Critical Sample Size = 400 Over 61% Believe OpenTelemetry Is a Very Important or Critical Enabler of Observability © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 13. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 13 How important is OpenTelemetry to your organization's observability strategy? 1.0% 11.5% 30.3% 43.3% 14.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0% Not at all important Slightly important Moderately important Very important Critical Sample Size = 400 OpenTelemetry’s Importance Grows with Observability Maturity 57% consider OpenTelemetry Very Important or Critical to their Observability strategy 0 0% 23% 40% 37% 0% 0 2% 20% 36% 35% 7% 0 1% 6% 27% 48% 19% 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 Total Not at all important Slightly important Moderately important Very important Critical How important is OpenTelemetry to your organization's observability strategy? By Observability Maturity Immature Adequate Mature © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 14. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 14 Is your organization currently using OpenTelemetry to support observability? Yes 48.5% No, but planning to implement 25.3% Still testing or studying OpenTelemetry 24.8% No, and no plans to implement - 1.5% Sample Size = 400 Over 48% Actively Use OpenTelemetry Adoption rises with Observability maturity 61% 20% 19% 1% 26% 34% 38% 2% 30% 40% 23% 7% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Yes No, but planning to implement Still testing or studying OpenTelemetry No, and no plans to implement Is your organization currently using OpenTelemetry to support observability? By Observability Maturity Mature Adequate Immature © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 15. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 15 What percentage of your IT environment is currently instrumented with OTel instead of a proprietary agent? 4.0% 14.0% 47.0% 30.0% 5.0% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0% Less than 10% 10-25% 26-50% 51-75% 76-100% Sample Size = 194 35% Instrument 50% or More of Their Environment with OTel But 96% are instrumenting at least 10% with OTel © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 16. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 16 Which roles are using OpenTelemetry within your organization, or will be once implemented? 27.3% 17.2% 15.8% 14.8% 14.2% 10.5% 0.3% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% IT Operations (ITOps) Application Developers DevOps Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) Platform Engineers Compliance Officers Other (Please specify) Sample Size = 295, Valid Cases = 295, Total Mentions = 791 IT Operations Is Most Prevalent User of OpenTelemetry with significant usage by other roles: Developers, DevOps, SREs and more © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 18. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 18 What are the reasons your organization has no plans to implement or is still studying OpenTelemetry? 14.7% 13.7% 11.0% 10.3% 10.3% 8.9% 8.2% 8.2% 7.5% 6.8% 0.3% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% Complexity of implementation Concerns about integration with existing tools Concerns about the maturity or support of OpenTelemetry Lack of expertise or resources to manage it Cost concerns Existing tools already meet observability requirements Lack of perceived value for our needs OpenTelemetry is too new/we just became aware of OpenTelemetry Lack of support for your programming language/platform Do not want to disrupt existing observability or instrumentation Other (Please specify) Sample Size = 105, Valid Cases = 105, Total Mentions = 292 Complexity, Integration, and Maturity Concerns Are Top Barriers to OpenTelemetry Adoption © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 19. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 19 What challenges have you encountered with OpenTelemetry, or expect to encounter once OpenTelemetry is implemented? 16.3% 15.7% 11.6% 11.1% 10.8% 9.6% 8.2% 7.5% 6.7% 2.6% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% 18.0% Integration with current tools Complexity of implementation Data management and storage concerns Learning how to implement Performance overhead or degradation Support for diverse languages/platforms Lack of vendor support or ecosystem maturity Library quality Instrumentation No challenges Sample Size = 295, Valid Cases = 295, Total Mentions = 732 Top OpenTelemetry Challenges: Integration, Complexity, and Data Management © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 21. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 21 What benefits does OpenTelemetry provide your organization? 14.8% 13.5% 12.6% 11.6% 10.9% 10.9% 9.6% 9.3% 6.7% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% Improved IT operations (ITOps) productivity Simplified collection of business-critical metrics Greater visibility into software and systems across the enterprise Improved developer productivity Improved developer experience Futureproofed your observability practice Reduced observability costs Accelerated development Avoided vendor lock-in Sample Size = 194, Valid Cases = 194, Total Mentions = 731 Key Benefits of OpenTelemetry: Improved Productivity, Simplified Data Collection, and Greater Visibility © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 22. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 22 By what percentage did ITOps productivity improve? 2.8% 37.0% 40.7% 19.4% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% Less than 10% 10-20% 21-30% More than 30% Sample Size = 108 For respondents experiencing increased ITOps productivity from OpenTelemetry: 60% Report ITOps Productivity Improvements of More Than 20% © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 23. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 23 By what percentage did developer productivity improve? 4.7% 34.1% 43.5% 17.6% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0% Less than 10% 10-20% 21-30% More than 30% Sample Size = 85 For respondents experiencing increased developer productivity from OpenTelemetry: Over 60% Report Developer Productivity Improvements of More Than 20% © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 24. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 24 What benefits does OpenTelemetry help your observability solution deliver? 27.1% 26.7% 24.6% 21.7% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% Reduced mean time to resolution (MTTR) Improved customer experience Improved employee experience Improved mobile experience Sample Size = 194, Valid Cases = 194, Total Mentions = 480 Key Benefits of OpenTelemetry: Faster Issue Resolution, Better Customer and Employee Experience © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 25. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 25 How has OpenTelemetry helped your observability solution impact your systems and applications? 18.3% 18.1% 16.5% 16.5% 15.2% 15.2% 0.3% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% 18.0% 20.0% Improved mobile application response time Improved application response time Reduced downtime Reduced application crashes Reduced mobile applications crashes Reduced network latency No noticeable impact Sample Size = 194, Valid Cases = 194, Total Mentions = 613 OpenTelemetry's Impact: Faster Response Times, Reduced Downtime, and Fewer Crashes Across Mobile and Enterprise Applications © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 26. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 26 By what percentage did MTTR improve? 4.6% 47.7% 35.4% 12.3% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Less than 10% 10-20% 21-30% More than 30% Sample Size = 130 For respondents experiencing faster MTTR from OpenTelemetry: Over 47% Report MTTR Improvements of More Than 20% Almost 48% report 10%-20% improvement © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 27. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 27 How much ROI is your organization seeing from OpenTelemetry? 2.6% 10.3% 40.7% 40.2% 6.2% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% None Minimal ROI (less than 10%) Moderate ROI (10-20%) Significant ROI (21-50%) High ROI (more than 50%) Sample Size = 194 Over 46% Report Greater Than 20% ROI Another 40% are achieving 10%-20% ROI © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 28. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 28 By what percentage did observability costs decrease? 14.3% 42.9% 30.0% 12.9% 0.0% 5.0% 10.0% 15.0% 20.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 40.0% 45.0% 50.0% Less than 10% 10-20% 21-30% More than 30% Sample Size = 70 For respondents experiencing reduced costs from OpenTelemetry: Over 42% Report Observability Cost Reductions of More Than 20% Another 42% say observability costs decreased 10%-20% © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 30. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 30 What is your expectation for OpenTelemetry's impact on your organization's observability capabilities? 42.3% 49.8% 7.3% 0.3% 0.5% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% Highly positive Moderately positive Neutral Negative Unsure Sample Size = 400 92% Moderately or Highly Positive About Impact of OpenTelemetry on Their Observability Capabilities © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 31. @ema_research | @ema_research Slide 31 What areas or use cases will your organization experiment with when using OpenTelemetry? 14.0% 13.9% 12.5% 12.3% 12.2% 12.2% 11.5% 11.3% 0.1% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0% Monitoring real user behavior (RUM) Enhancing mobile application observability Enhancing infrastructure performance visibility Improving Kubernetes observability Monitoring performance of microservices Exploring advanced AI/ML capabilities for insights Tracing across hybrid cloud environments Testing interoperability with other observability tools Other (please specify) Sample Size = 188, Valid Cases = 188, Total Mentions = 706 Key Use Cases for OpenTelemetry Experimentation: RUM, Mobile Observability, and AI-Driven Insights © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc.
- 32. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 32 https://open.spotify.com/show /4sCXnASOz8Dekr9E7iviSS http://apmdigest.com Hear more from Dan on the Enterprise Automation Excellence Podcast Read more from Pete on APMdigest
- 33. @ema_research | @ema_research @ema_research | @ema_research The OpenTelemetry research report is now available! Learn more and download: https://bit.ly/ema-opentelemetry- research-2025 Report also available on sponsors’ sites free of charge. © 2025 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. 33