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Observability refers to the ability to understand a system’s internal state based on its external outputs or behaviours. Simply put, it is the process of learning about the system’s structure by observing its activities, interactions and results. This concept is crucial in various fields, especially in managing complex systems such as software applications, networks, and infrastructure.
In today’s increasingly networked and dynamic environments, observability is critical for several reasons. Firstly, it allows for the rapid detection and analysis of system faults or errors. By monitoring and analysing system behaviour in real-time, organisations can identify problems early, preventing them from escalating into larger issues that disrupt operations or degrade the user experience.
Furthermore, observability enables more efficient troubleshooting and problem-solving. Engineers can more effectively diagnose the root cause of issues when they have comprehensive visibility into system components and interactions, reducing downtime and minimising user impact.
Conversely, a lack of observability in systems can lead to significant problems, including difficulty in identifying and resolving bottlenecks, prolonged downtimes, and increased operational costs. This affects performance, security, compliance, long-term viability, operational efficiency, and team workflow in an increasingly competitive environment.
Without proper observability, diagnosing issues in complex distributed systems becomes challenging and frustrating. The resulting poor capacity planning and resource optimisation can lead to over-provisioning or under-provisioning, service disruptions, and security breaches. This, in turn, jeopardises services, plays havoc with budgets and erodes customer trust.
Additionally, the lack of observability complicates compliance and governance. Organisations may struggle to gain insights into system behaviours and data flows, making it difficult to comply with regulatory standards or internal norms. This exposure can lead to legal and financial risks and more reputational damage.
Organisations can unlock the full potential of their IT infrastructure by leveraging an all-in-one platform that offers comprehensive solutions for full-stack hybrid and multi-cloud observability, IT service management, and database performance monitoring. Advanced monitoring, analytics and automation capabilities, ensure seamless integration and unified visibility across the entire environment, whether on-premises or across multiple cloud providers.
These platforms empower customers to streamline operations, enhance reliability, and foster innovation through proactive issue management and predictive resource rationalisation. They gain comprehensive insights into the performance, health and security of their systems, applications, and databases. This allows them to take control of their IT landscape, leveraging unified observability, service management, and performance optimisation – all from a single, user-friendly platform.
The benefits of enhanced observability extend beyond immediate troubleshooting and efficiency gains. They ensure better compliance and governance, as they can more easily monitor and report on system behaviours and data flows to meet regulatory requirements. This capability mitigates legal and financial risks while safeguarding the organisation’s reputation.
Moreover, a platform offering unified observability can significantly enhance the user experience. By ensuring that systems run smoothly and efficiently, organisations can deliver more reliable and responsive services to their users. This is vital for maintaining a competitive edge in today’s digital landscape.
Observability is crucial for managing and boosting complex systems, offering insights to promptly address issues, optimise resources, ensure compliance and improve performance. A comprehensive observability platform enhances operational efficiency, drives innovation and secures a competitive edge.
Observability is not just about monitoring; it’s about gaining the insights needed for strategic decisions and long-term success.
The 9th Annual Malaysia OpenGov Leadership Forum at Sofitel Kuala Lumpur Damansara on 12 July 2024, explored the significant role of observability in the digital era. Experts from various sectors shared insights on leveraging observability to enhance system performance, security, and compliance.
As Malaysia pursues its digital transition, observability and visibility will act as crucial markers, highlighting inefficiencies, streamlining efficiency and informing decisions. These capabilities will enable quick problem identification and resolution, ensuring the smooth operation of critical applications and infrastructure.
By focusing on observability, Malaysia can drive innovation, optimise resources and maintain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Opening Remarks
Mohit Sagar, CEO and Editor-in-Chief at OpenGov Asia, emphasises the crucial role of visibility in Malaysia’s expanding tech sector. He highlights its impact on strategic alignment, accountability, data-driven decision-making, stakeholder engagement, innovation, customer satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.
“In Malaysia’s rapidly evolving tech environment, transparency helps organisations unify efforts and resources towards common goals, ensuring the success of digital transformation initiatives,” Mohit reveals. “This strategic alignment mitigates risks associated with miscommunication and helps businesses stay agile and responsive to market changes.”
Improving stakeholder engagement is essential for success in digital transformation. Transparency builds trust and encourages collaboration, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. This allows organisations to iterate and refine their digital strategies quickly.
Customer satisfaction is paramount, with transparency empowering businesses to tailor services and products to effectively meet customer needs. Moreover, enhanced visibility aids in regulatory compliance, mitigating legal risks and bolstering business credibility. Together, these elements underpin the success and sustainability of digital initiatives within Malaysia’s tech ecosystem.
Moreover, unified visibility is a crucial tool for organisations in Malaysia’s tech industry. It provides a comprehensive view of all digital transformation initiatives, ensuring alignment with strategic goals. This helps organisations stay focused and cohesive, driving more effective and efficient digital transformation.
“Unified visibility enhances operational efficiency by allowing better coordination and integration of digital projects,” he explains. “It facilitates informed decision-making by consolidating data from diverse sources, enabling businesses to adapt to market changes and emerging trends.”
Unified visibility fosters collaboration and communication by breaking down silos across departments and teams. It strengthens accountability and governance through transparent tracking of progress and performance, identifying areas for continuous improvement and innovation.
Moreover, unified visibility ensures customer-centric approaches by offering insights into customer interactions and feedback. It supports compliance and risk management by providing clarity on all digital activities and their adherence to regulatory standards. In Malaysia’s burgeoning tech landscape, unified visibility is crucial for organisations to maintain competitiveness, drive innovation, and uphold compliance.
In today’s digital landscape, a unified platform is crucial for organisations seeking enhanced productivity, visibility, and efficiency. Reducing redundancy and streamlining manual procedures allows teams to focus on strategic projects while integrating Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) to optimise remote IT management and foster adaptive environments.
AI and ML are revolutionising observability by enabling predictive analytics and pattern identification, enhancing operational efficiency and reducing downtime. These technologies excel at detecting trends and deviations in metrics, logs, and traces, facilitating early error detection and preventive maintenance.
They also simplify root cause analysis by correlating data across multiple sources, accelerating troubleshooting and minimising incident impact, thereby improving decision-making with data-driven insights for prioritising actions based on observed issues.
Unified observability not only ensures regulatory compliance and operational efficiency but also enhances consumer and citizen experiences while bolstering security measures. This comprehensive approach is essential for organisations to thrive amidst rapid digital market expansion.
IT outages have profound and diverse economic repercussions. They inflict substantial financial losses on firms by interrupting operations and disrupting revenue streams, with every minute of downtime potentially exacerbating income loss. Industries like finance, healthcare, and e-commerce are particularly vulnerable to these disruptions due to their heavy dependence on digital infrastructure.
“A lack of observability can severely impact an organisation’s performance and operational efficiency. This leads to extended downtime and service delivery disruptions, resulting in monetary losses, brand damage, and decreased client satisfaction,” Mohit elaborates. “With observability, companies can understand the internal status of their systems, making it easier to identify and resolve issues quickly.”
The repercussions of insufficient observability are far-reaching, impacting not just operational efficiency but also an organisation’s capacity to innovate, compete, and thrive in today’s digital landscape. Without proper observability, they will struggle to make informed, data-driven decisions, hindering their ability to identify improvement opportunities, optimise processes, and effectively manage risks.
Mohit reiterates that observability empowers organisations with critical insights into their systems, enabling early issue detection, efficient resource allocation, and informed decision-making. These capabilities are essential for maintaining high uptime, enhancing user experiences, and driving revenue growth.
Beyond individual enterprises, observability plays a strategic role in bolstering the Malaysian economy, enhancing resilience and competitiveness, positioning the nation as a regional tech hub.
“It’s imperative for businesses and policymakers alike to acknowledge the significance of observability, prioritising investments to unlock Malaysia’s full potential, foster innovation-led growth and establish global leadership in the digital arena,” Mohit suggests in closing.
Welcome Address
Nitin Chand, Head of Solution Architect for Asia Pacific & Japan at SolarWinds Inc., agrees with Mohit’s position on the importance of unified visibility. He emphasises the integration of advanced observability solutions to ensure seamless digital transformation and maintain a competitive edge in Malaysia’s tech sector.
As organisations in Malaysia continue to digitise their operations, the need for robust observability solutions becomes increasingly apparent. These solutions enable businesses to gain deeper insights into their IT environments, swiftly identifying and resolving issues, optimising performance, and ensuring a seamless user experience.
“Unified visibility and observability are no longer optional but essential components for any organisation aiming to succeed in the digital era,” Nitin says.
Nitin emphasises the role of AI and ML in enhancing observability solutions and notes that they are transforming IT management approaches. In line with this, SolarWinds is dedicated to delivering thorough visibility and observability solutions through AI and ML, aiming to boost operational efficiency and drive innovation.
“By automating routine tasks and providing predictive analytics, these technologies help organisations stay ahead of potential problems, ensuring continuous availability and reliability of their services,” he explains.
SolarWinds’ commitment to integrating AI and ML into their observability solutions reflects a broader trend in the tech industry towards more intelligent and autonomous systems. This not only helps businesses in Malaysia maintain their competitive edge but also drives innovation and economic growth across the region.
“We have been doing some of the most transformative work in the field of IT management in the region,” Nitin Chand highlights. “Our solutions are designed to cater to the unique needs of diverse markets, ensuring that businesses, regardless of their size or industry, can leverage advanced observability to achieve their digital transformation goals.”
SolarWinds has been instrumental in assisting diverse industries across the Asia Pacific region, spanning finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and government sectors. Their tailored observability solutions address specific challenges, such as regulatory compliance and the management of complex IT infrastructures, ensuring operational efficiency and reliability.
SolarWinds has partnered with several leading organisations in Malaysia to implement comprehensive observability solutions. These partnerships have enhanced the operational capabilities of these organisations and set new benchmarks for IT management in the region.
The company ensures that its clients have access to the best tools and technologies and know how to use them. This includes ongoing training and support to help organisations fully realise the benefits of the solutions. They believe that empowering clients with knowledge and resources is just as important as the technology itself.
“Looking forward, we are committed to continuous innovation and improvement,” Nitin confirms. “As the digital landscape evolves, so will our solutions. Our goal is to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that our clients can navigate the complexities of the digital era with confidence and agility.”
Implementing advanced observability solutions is crucial for Malaysia’s tech sector as it aims to establish itself as a leader in the global digital economy. By adopting these technologies, Malaysian businesses can enhance their operational efficiency, innovate more effectively, and contribute to the country’s overall economic development.
“At SolarWinds, we are dedicated to pioneering these advancements and helping businesses across the Asia Pacific region thrive in the digital age. Our commitment to innovation, combined with our deep understanding of the local market, positions us as a trusted partner for digital transformation,” is Nitin’s reassurance to the delegates.
Power Talk
Observability, which involves understanding internal systems by monitoring their outputs, is crucial for successful digital transformations across various sectors. In today’s fast-paced digital era, the ability to see and understand system operations in real time is essential for keeping pace with rapid technological changes.
Moderated by Mohit, CEO and Editor-in-Chief at OpenGov Asia, three experts from diverse backgrounds explored the pivotal role of observability amidst Malaysia’s rapid digital transformation in an impactful panel discussion.
Lee Li Foon, Chief Information Officer at Bank Simpanan Nasional, agrees that organisational visibility is crucial for effective and secure operations. With good visibility, organisations can proactively identify potential issues early, resolving them before they escalate and cause significant harm.
Lee believes that visibility enables better decision-making because the available data can be used for deeper analysis. “In banking, where security and compliance are top priorities, visibility helps ensure that all activities and transactions are recorded and auditable. This is crucial for regulatory compliance and maintaining customer trust.”
Furthermore, visibility enhances operational efficiency by allowing IT teams to optimise resources and ensure all components work harmoniously. This clear view of processes and systems reduces operational costs while enhancing overall system reliability and performance.
Bank Simpanan Nasional has taken concrete steps to improve its visibility and operational efficiency. They have implemented advanced monitoring systems to observe all aspects of IT activities in real-time. With this, the bank can quickly identify anomalies or potential issues in its systems before they disrupt daily operations.
Bank Simpanan Nasional has also integrated other tech solutions to create an integrated view of its IT infrastructure. This allows them to have a comprehensive overview of the health and performance of the overall system. As a result, the IT team can respond more quickly to any changes or incidents, reducing downtime and ensuring uninterrupted service to customers.
The importance of in-depth data analysis, Lee says, is made possible by good visibility. “Data collected from various sources can be used to identify trends, predict future infrastructure needs, and design more effective strategies for growth and innovation in the future.”
Anand Rajender Kumar, Chief Technology Officer at Pos Malaysia Berhad, offers his perspective on observability in organisational operations and innovation, especially amid the ongoing digital transformation.
According to Anand, observability is key to improving operational efficiency and driving organisational innovation. In today’s increasingly digital and complex environment, having good visibility into all operational aspects is crucial. This helps identify issues quickly and allows teams to make necessary improvements more effectively, thereby reducing downtime and maintaining optimal system performance.
Observability, he suggests, goes beyond just monitoring current events; it involves the ability to predict potential future issues. By analysing data deeply and using technologies like AI and ML, organisations can identify patterns or trends that could indicate potential problems early. This enables them to take necessary preventive actions before issues disrupt daily operations.
In the context of Pos Malaysia Berhad, Anand explained how observability has helped the organisation improve customer service efficiency and responsiveness. With good visibility across its entire network and systems, Pos Malaysia can ensure that its delivery and logistics services run smoothly without unexpected disruptions. This enhances customer satisfaction and supports sustainable business growth in a competitive market.
Innovation is another outcome of observability at Pos Malaysia Berhad. By having detailed access to operational performance data and customer preferences, the team can identify opportunities for developing new products and services that better meet market needs. This allows them to stay relevant and competitive in a constantly changing industry and add value to their customers.
Ultimately, Anand believes that observability is not just a tool for managing operational risks but also a key driver for improving efficiency and fostering innovation within organisations. By adopting a proactive approach to observability and leveraging appropriate technologies, organisations like Pos Malaysia Berhad can optimise their performance, strengthen their market position, and gain a competitive edge in the evolving digital era.
Nitin Chand, Head of Solution Architect, Asia Pacific & Japan, SolarWinds Inc., echoed the previous panellists’ views on the importance of observability and visibility in IT management and digital transformation.
He acknowledges that observability is crucial for ensuring operational efficiency and business sustainability in the digital age. With full visibility into their IT infrastructure, organisations can swiftly identify issues, analyse root causes, and take corrective actions. This reduces downtime and enhances overall system reliability, which is essential for maintaining productivity and user satisfaction.
Nitin notes the vital role of technology in strengthening observability and believes organisations can optimise their operations more effectively by leveraging advanced technology solutions such as advanced analytics and AI. This will allow them to analyse complex data patterns, provide deep insights into system performance in real-time and even predict potential issues before they occur.
On being asked about his views on a 30 or 40-year outlook and the anticipated challenges with legacy systems, particularly focusing on resilience, observability, and visibility, where the need for adaptable systems that integrate and function efficiently within existing infrastructure was emphasized, Nitin acknowledged that the question highlighted a critical aspect of the evolving digital landscape. Legacy systems indeed pose significant challenges, and the need for resilience, observability, and visibility cannot be overstated.
He is convinced that good visibility supports broader digital transformation efforts. By deeply understanding how each component of the infrastructure interacts and influences each other, organisations can design more targeted and effective digital transformation strategies. This includes addressing scalability, security, and higher system resilience challenges in a constantly evolving digital world.
Moreover, Nitin says observability significantly enhances the resilience and security of an organisation’s information. With good visibility, security teams can proactively monitor potential threats and respond quickly to protect sensitive data and maintain customer trust.
“Increasing operational efficiency and driving innovation through a proactive mindset to observability is not just a management tool, but drives innovation and offers a competitive advantage,” he is convinced. “At SolarWinds, we understand that future-proofing these systems requires robust, adaptive solutions. When these systems connect to your infrastructure, our advanced observability solutions ensure smooth integration and efficient operation.”
Mohit sums up the discussion, granting that observability is critical for operational betterment, risk mitigation and serves as a foundation for innovation and gaining a competitive edge in Malaysia’s fast-paced digital transformation.
“Organisations eager to navigate future challenges with confidence and success must embrace a holistic approach to observability and leverage advanced technologies intentionally,” Mohit concludes. “By adopting a broader perspective, organisations can optimise their performance and achieve their goals.”
Tech Showcase
In the significantly altered and evolving post-pandemic landscape, businesses are continuously adapting, placing renewed emphasis on web user experience, cloud capabilities, and mobile-friendly technologies. This shift is compelling IT teams to realign their strategies with modernisation efforts.
Business success, more than ever, hinges on prioritising innovation, focusing on customer needs and meticulously monitoring outcomes. In the current milieu, Nitin Chand, the Head of Solution Architect for Asia Pacific & Japan at SolarWinds Inc., believes observability plays a critical role.
Some IT teams have adapted to these changes more effectively than others. The most successful teams recognise the limitations of traditional visibility and monitoring approaches, which often fail to provide comprehensive insights into system performance. Instead, they embrace observability, offering a more nuanced and impactful understanding of system behaviour.
“In the face of increasing blind spots in today’s infrastructure, application observability is indispensable,” explains Nitin. “Observability builds on traditional visibility, enabling Network, Application, and Infrastructure teams to proactively address issues, thus enhancing performance and service delivery.”
In a survey conducted by SolarWinds across the ASEAN region – including respondents from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand – observability was identified as a critical enabler of business and revenue growth, increased operational efficiency, and improved security vulnerability management. The primary drivers of observability adoption were security, governance, risk, and compliance (60%), along with the integration of emerging technologies such as IoT (57%) and AI (56%).
SolarWinds provides comprehensive solutions tailored to this environment. Their platform surpasses traditional Application Performance Management (APM) tools by discovering, mapping, and monitoring all services and infrastructure components. This delivers actionable information with full context for DevOps, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), development, and IT Operations (ITOps) teams, empowering them to optimise pipelines and applications effectively.
“SolarWinds provides comprehensive automation with the context needed to take intelligent actions,” reveals Nitin. “Our solutions facilitate seamless integration and comprehensive monitoring, allowing teams to proactively and efficiently manage IT infrastructure.”
While having an observability tool is crucial, its effectiveness hinges on proper utilization, is Nitin’s caveat. The actual value of observability tools lies in their ability to automate tasks and provide actionable insights.
“An observability tool should be doing the job for you,” Nitin elaborates. “If you don’t know how to use it, you may find that the costs are high without delivering commensurate value.”
Nitin believes that the future of IT infrastructure management depends on effectively harnessing the power of observability to drive innovation and success. In the complex post-pandemic world, observability tools have become a game-changer for businesses. These tools provide deeper insights into system performance and enable proactive issue resolution, helping organisations achieve greater operational efficiency, enhanced security, and sustained business growth.
Closing Remarks
In bringing the forum to a close, Nitin expressed his gratitude to the delegates for their active participation and valuable insights. From the discussions, it was clear that everyone understood the importance of observability.
“Observability is not just a technology trend; it is a fundamental necessity for organisations that want to remain competitive and responsive to the rapidly changing market dynamics,” emphasised Nitin. He also stressed the importance of investing in training and skill development for IT teams to maximise the use of observability tools.
Nitin provided a detailed summary of the key insights and practical recommendations shared throughout the event. He also offered his perspective on how businesses can begin their observability journey, emphasising several key areas:
Understand the Business Needs: Organisations must clearly define their needs and goals before implementing observability solutions. By aligning observability strategies with business objectives, organisations can ensure their efforts are purposeful and effective.
Choose the Right Tools: Selecting the appropriate observability tools is crucial and solutions that offer visibility, context, and the ability to take intelligent actions are vital. The right tools should be scalable, user-friendly, and capable of integrating with existing systems for a seamless observability experience. SolarWinds, for example, provides tailored solutions that deliver comprehensive insights for proactive decision-making.
Train the Team: The importance of continuous training for IT teams cannot be overstated. Regular training ensures that team members stay updated on the latest features and best practices, enabling them to fully leverage the capabilities of observability tools.
Integration and Automation: Integrating observability tools with other systems to gain a holistic view and leveraging automation to enhance operational efficiency is essential. It allows for a unified view of the IT environment, while automation reduces manual tasks, minimises errors, and accelerates response times.
Monitor and Evaluate Regularly: Regular assessment of system performance is a must. Continuous monitoring, evaluation, and adjustment of strategies ensure optimal performance and help organisations adapt to changing conditions, maintaining the effectiveness of observability efforts.
Mohit acknowledges that observability is essential for overcoming modern infrastructure challenges and seizing new opportunities in the digital era. By effectively implementing observability, organisations can enhance operational efficiency, bolster security, and drive business growth.
“By adopting observability, you are not just monitoring your systems but optimising your entire IT ecosystem for long-term success,” Mohit reiterated.
Mohit is confident that the forum provided a valuable platform for IT professionals to share experiences, learn from experts, and develop new strategies to tackle future technological challenges. He believes that participants will leave with new knowledge and a renewed determination to implement these insights for the betterment of their organisations.
He closed with a call for ongoing collaboration, highlighting the importance of working together to continuously innovate and adapt in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
“The true strength of our industry lies in our ability to learn from one another and collaborate towards a common goal. Let us continue to work together, sharing our knowledge and expertise, to shape a brighter, more resilient future for all,” Mohit concluded.
