Telemetry’s transformative power: A holistic approach to IT visibility and flexibility

By Dhananjay Ganjoo, Managing Director India & SAARC, F5

Over the past few years, the emergence of new technologies such as cloud computing, 5G, and AI/ML has transformed the way organisations operate. With digital transformation, applications have become the lifeblood of businesses. As organisations adjust to the big trends and upgrade their applications, the way applications are designed is shifting. They are now focused on APIs, using microservices, and relying more on automation and orchestration.

This fast-changing application landscape has opened new attack surfaces for cybercriminals to exploit. According to PwC’s Global Risk Survey 2023, cyber risks are cited as the biggest threat faced by Indian organisations, with 38% of respondents feeling highly or extremely exposed to it. In contrast to past security challenges experienced by organisations, the latest types of attacks are highly organised and financially motivated. Some of these common advanced threats are ransomware attacks, information stealing, remote administrator toolkits, crypto mining, and more. Therefore, to optimise the security, performance, and value of the apps, organisations must instrument them as well as their supporting services and infrastructure with some of the game-changing technologies such as telemetry.

Telemetry provides organisations with real-time IT visibility, proactive issue resolution, and optimised performance by providing real-time insights about IT infrastructure performance, health, and utilisation. It helps organisations to streamline operations, optimise resource allocation, and proactively address issues by providing a unified picture, assuring a cohesive and effective approach to managing their multi-cloud infrastructure. As per a report by 6W Research, the increasing complexity of systems and the need for real-time data analysis have driven the demand for telemetry solutions. Adopting telemetry
can provide businesses with the following benefits:

 Holistic IT visibility: Telemetry transforms IT visibility by providing a single, real-time view of the entire ecosystem. Unlike the typical fragmented monitoring solutions, telemetry consolidates data from servers, networks, applications, and databases into a dashboard. This comprehensive perspective extends beyond status monitoring to provide insights into resource utilisation and crucial metrics. Real-time monitoring detects and corrects anomalies quickly, maintaining smooth business operations.

 Flexibility unleashed: Telemetry improves flexibility in managing IT resources, which is critical in multi-cloud environments. It streamlines resource monitoring across several cloud providers by acting as a centralised platform. Telemetry’s function in dynamic resource allocation enables educated judgments based on real-time demands for best performance and cost-effectiveness.

 Proactive issue resolution: IT management has become more proactive as a result of telemetry. Potential faults are recognised before they affect users using anomaly detection and predictive analytics. Automated alerts and responses to anomalies, such as surges in traffic or performance deviations, save downtime, improve dependability, and enhance the user experience. The automated responses of telemetry, such as dynamic resource allocation during web traffic surges, speed up issue resolution, allowing IT personnel to focus on strategic goals rather than firefighting.

Data-driven

 Decision-making: Telemetry transforms raw data into useful insights, allowing for data-driven decision-making. Correlating telemetry with business indicators allows leaders to gain a better understanding of how IT performance affects overall results. This IT-business information synergy influences infrastructure optimisation, resource allocation, and technological investments.

Telemetry becomes a strategic tool for connecting IT activities with larger business objectives, which is critical in a competitive digital landscape.
 Security at speed: Advanced cyber-attacks typically bypass the well-established security controls, such as firewalls, web application firewalls, making it imperative for organisations to detect such activities. This requires contextual analysis of several of these data points via largescale telemetry, and with near real-time analysis.

The above-listed benefits of adopting telemetry show how telemetry is revolutionising IT infrastructure management today. Telemetry positions organisations to thrive in the face of complexity and technological innovation by providing complete visibility and adaptability. It is emerging as a cornerstone technology in the digital future, enabling businesses to make informed decisions, solve difficulties proactively, and realise their full potential.