Extra tags: Digital Transformation
Authored by: Mark Maslach, Vice President, Global Channels & Strategic Alliances, AppDynamics
In the AppDynamics Agents of Transformation 2021: The Rise of Full-Stack Observability report, we found that digital transformation projects are now being executed three times faster than prior to the pandemic. And this rapid pace shows no sign of slowing down, with technologists expecting the same speed of innovation in 2022 and beyond.
IT departments spent much of the last two years firefighting as they battled to respond to the changing needs of the business and their customers. Now the challenge for organisations in Asia Pacific (APAC) is ensuring that digital transformation is sustainable. Instead of only being reactive to the external circumstances, it’s time for them to truly embed new processes and technologies as part of everyday business.
To do this, full-stack observability - the ability to monitor the full IT estate, from customer-facing applications through to third party services and core infrastructure - should be a top priority for IT leaders this year. A comprehensive observability solution will provide much needed support to help technologists address and manage the growing complexity IT departments now face across their IT environment. With a full-stack observability solution in place, IT teams will be empowered to be more proactive and strategic when it comes to driving innovation and performance.
With APAC customers on the lookout for tech platforms, processes, and skills to optimise their digital transformation efforts, how can channel partners tap into this opportunity to provide much-needed counsel and support?
Helping enterprises to tackle overwhelming IT complexity
After two years of continuous innovation and the dramatic shift towards cloud computing, IT teams are feeling the strain of managing a sprawling and fragmented IT estate made up of a patchwork of legacy and cloud technologies. As our research found, 75% of global technologists believe that the response to the pandemic has resulted in more IT complexity than ever before.
In addition to the many challenges that complexity already brings, IT departments also face even more pressure to meet soaring consumer expectations. According to AppDynamics’ App Attention Index 2021: who takes the rap for the app? report, more than half of consumers said that their expectations of digital services have changed and they are no longer willing to accept poor performance. In fact, most consumers now regard any brand that offers poor digital experiences as ‘disrespectful.’ When an online experience can make or break the relationship with current or potential customers, technologists simply can’t afford any slip ups when it comes to IT performance.
Many IT departments have seen the need to monitor the full IT landscape, from customer-facing applications through to core infrastructure such as network and security. But this enhanced monitoring has meant that technologists are now facing soaring volumes of data from up and down their IT stack, and this data noise is further adding to the complexity and pressure.
Unfortunately, many technologists find themselves without the tools they need to manage the increased volumes of data flooding into their organisation and to achieve meaningful and actionable insights from this information. Our research has found that almost three-quarters of the world’s technologists are still depending on multiple disconnected monitoring solutions, making their job extremely challenging, if not impossible. Alas, while IT teams are tasked with driving digital transformation projects at unprecedented speeds while maintaining optimal digital experiences, they are ill-equipped to identify issues within the environment with a single unified view.
The consequences are severe. Without a comprehensive solution in place, businesses may be unable to fully maximise the benefits of their digital transformation investments and end up worrying about IT issues evolving into something incredibly damaging. This is why IT teams increasingly recognise the need for complete and real-time visibility across the entire environment. With so many accelerated plans and rapid transitions, full-stack observability will be critical to achieve an organisation’s innovation goals.
Exploring the full-stack observability opportunity
While many understand the need for unified visibility, most still face barriers when it comes to adopting full-stack observability in their organisations. Typical concerns include integration and implementation, scalability, and the business case to prove ROI. This is to be expected as technologists are currently drowning in complexity and firefighting. Few have the time and resources to step back, carefully evaluate options and draft a plan for selection and implementation of full-stack observability tools and processes.
This is where channel partners play a key role in easing the pressure on technologists. As experts, partners can step in to provide the necessary support and information they need to build a business case and execute an implementation program. Across various industries, partners are already accelerating the move into hybrid IT environments, while keeping a close eye on issues like revenue, OPEX and SaaS. The next step is to demonstrate the advantages and benefits of full-stack observability and articulate how cloud-native architecture and application security underpins this strategic shift.
With the unique ability to consider the four main areas of IT operations - AppOps and DevOps, NetOps, InfraOps, and SecOps, partners are well-positioned to take a holistic view on technology performance and optimisation. With this knowledge and expertise, they can help clients to identify key use cases, and work closely together to build or select a full-stack observability solution that best meets their needs and goals.
The opportunity for partners to take an existing application performance monitoring practice and extend this into a much larger, higher value full-stack observability practice is vast. And those that are able to make this shift in the next 12 months will effectively establish a new, largely uncontested market space, creating and capturing new demand.
