Cisco amps up Splunk observability platform

As promised, Cisco is making changes to its observability product portfolio to help customers better manage applications across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.

After closing the Splunk acquisition in May, Cisco said a top priority is bringing together its observability platforms, which are designed to collect and correlate data from application, networking, infrastructure, security, and cloud domains to make it easier for enterprises to spot anomalies, address performance problems, and improve threat mitigation.

To that end, Cisco’s AppDynamics network and application management suite is now part of the Splunk Observability portfolio and renamed Splunk AppDynamics. The integration includes single sign-on (SSO) and deep linking between the Splunk Observability Cloud and AppDynamics to streamline access and workflows.

Splunk Observability Cloud is a full-stack, OpenTelemetry-native SaaS platform. Customers use the platform to monitor and troubleshoot their infrastructure, application performance, and end-user experiences. Using AI technology, the platform can spot anomalies and help customers identify the root cause of an error or performance problem, according to Cisco.

A new interface will unify Splunk AppDynamics and Observability Cloud to deliver a consistent user experience as observability extends from traditional to cloud-native applications, according to a blog written by Teneil Lawrence, senior product marketing manager for Splunk Infrastructure Monitoring.

In addition, a new feature, Log Observer Connect, will allow customers to integrate logs from AppDynamics and the Splunk platform for faster troubleshooting across on-prem and hybrid environments, Lawrence stated.

An upgrade to the Splunk Tag Spotlight component, which lets customers analyze the performance of specific services, is aimed at helping customers more easily identify problems and resolve them quicker, Lawrence stated. Another new feature lets ITOps and engineering teams drill into Kubernetes containers to speed up repair times and maintain optimal performance across their Kubernetes environments.

The goal is to help ITOps and engineering teams unify visibility and troubleshooting workflows across their entire environment, from on-premises to the cloud, according to Lawrence. “As a result, teams can quickly identify, isolate, and resolve incidents originating anywhere in their environment and better manage their data and costs,” Lawrence wrote. These innovations were designed to help bring observability to the whole enterprise, from infrastructure to applications to the network, Lawrence stated.

Network observability trends

Data from research firm IDC suggests that enterprises need take a more unified and streamlined approach to observability.

“Success of network observability solutions rests on their ability to offer detailed insights into the cloud, bolster security postures and processes, deliver the best user experience, support integration with other management and observability tools, and serve to bolster staff capabilities, productivity, and impact,” IDC stated in a recent report on observability trends.

There are still significant challenges in collecting, analyzing, and sharing management data, according to the research firm.

“There are many methods used to gather network intelligence, and the precision of network insights is primarily determined by processing accurate, timely, and complete data sets. Network observability solutions must leverage all available mechanisms – from logs to polls to telemetry to synthetic tests – to develop a complete picture of network conditions and components,” IDC stated.

Network observability trends

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