Monitoring vs observability: the differences explained

When evaluating solutions to manage and optimize your business systems, two key concepts frequently arise: observability and monitoring. Understanding the distinction between these approaches can help you select the most effective solution for your operations to more effectively solve software problems, optimize system performance, and maintain uptime.

What is monitoring in IT systems?

Monitoring involves collecting and analyzing metrics and logs to track the performance and health of IT systems. The main focus of monitoring is keeping tabs on known issues and areas where incidents are most likely to occur. Developers deploy tracking systems and alerts to notify teams of anomalies based on specific thresholds or conditions. 

Examples of monitoring in IT systems include:

• CPU and memory usage monitoring: Tracks hardware or virtual machine resource use  to signs of  systems being overburdened. Abnormal spikes could suggest poor management, outdated hardware, or malicious activity. 

• Application Performance Monitoring (APM): Measures the time it takes for an application to respond to user requests. High response times could indicate performance bottlenecks in the code, database, or server.

• Real-time log monitoring: Monitors logs in real-time to detect and alert on specific patterns, such as failed login attempts.

• Uptime monitoring: Identifies whether critical services like web servers, databases, or APIs are up and running.

Monitoring is important for maintaining IT infrastructure and providing key insights into known risks and current performance. However, as an isolated solution, monitoring doesn’tt provide the context developers need to understand how modern, complex IT systems are functioning. For that, a broader approach is necessary. That’s where observability comes in. 

What is observability in IT systems?

Observability refers to the ability to understand the internal state of a system based on its external outputs. Observability makes it possible for developers to trace issues straight to the source using system interaction data and historical performance insights. In sophisticated, cloud-based environments, this approach gives developers context to understand what’s driving system behavior. It also enables organizations to adapt faster to changing IT configurations, troubleshoot more efficiently, and reduce operational costs.   

Examples of observability in IT systems include:

• Dependency mapping: Mapping system interactions to determine how a service or event affects or is affected by other services within the system

• Real-time event correlation: Correlating events with other real-time events or deployments to identify potential cause-and-effect relationships.

• Dynamic load testing: Simulating different load conditions to observe how a service or system changes under various scenarios, helping predict potential issues before they occur in production.

Monitoring vs. observability

Monitoring and observability are often confused, yet understanding their differences is essential for optimizing your IT operations. Here’s a breakdown of the key differences: 

Which approach is more effective: Monitoring or observability?

While both approaches have their merits, observability offers more comprehensive insights and flexibility for managing the complexity of modern IT systems. 

Here are the key benefits of observability:

• Holistic system understanding: Provides a complete picture of system behavior, including unexpected issues.

• Adaptability to change: Better suited for dynamic and evolving IT environments.

• Enhanced troubleshooting: Enables faster and more accurate root cause analysis in complex scenarios.

• Future-proofing: Prepares organizations for unknown future challenges in system management.

• Improved collaboration: Enables better communication between development and operations teams.

• Cost-efficiency:Reduces overall operational costs by minimizing downtime and optimizing resource allocation.

However, it’s important to note that monitoring provides a good foundation for observability. Poor quality software can lead to significant financial losses, reputational damage, and compliance issues for businesses, potentially threatening their survival. It results in increased development and maintenance costs, lost revenue, and missed opportunities. Additionally, it can cause legal penalties and competitive disadvantages. The most effective approach often combines elements of both.

Optimize your IT operations with Fastly's observability and monitoring capabilities

Monitoring is effective at tracking known issues and providing performance metrics, while observability is the ideal solution for understanding complex systems through external outputs. Fastly is the cloud-edge platform that brings these together, enabling proactive problem-solving, minimizing downtime, and enhancing system performance, reliability, and user experience in modern IT infrastructures.

With Fastly’s monitoring and observability features, you can continuously keep tabs on your site, product, or service and get the deep, real-time insights you need to troubleshoot errors and improve performance. Our approach integrates logging, metrics, and tracing capabilities to provide a holistic view of your IT infrastructure.

The observability, speed, and security that Fastly provides is a game-changer. Find out for yourself by signing up for your free trial today.