Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

When your Kubernetes app suddenly has traffic spikes in a distant country, it can be difficult to determine why. Let’s say, for example, we have an e-commerce app that started to receive an unusual surge of visitors from Australia — something we never anticipated. We search for answers in our logs, but without geographic context, we don’t have the full insights we need.

Hallucinations occur when a large language model (LLM) confidently generates information that is false or unsupported. These responses can spread misinformation that jeopardizes safety, causes reputational damage, and erodes user trust. Augmented generation techniques, such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), aim to reduce hallucinations by providing LLMs with relevant context from verified sources and prompting the LLMs to cite these sources in their responses.

Modern applications generate a deluge of telemetry data—logs, metrics, and traces—that hold the key to understanding system performance and reliability. However, managing this data effectively is a growing challenge for DevOps teams. Raw telemetry can overwhelm teams with complexity and noise even when collected via robust standards like OpenTelemetry.

An APM solution, or Application Performance Monitoring tool, is a software application that helps businesses monitor and manage the performance and availability of software applications. APM tools gather data from systems, servers, databases, APIs, and end-user devices to provide deep insights into the root causes of performance issues. APM solutions have evolved far beyond basic monitoring.

Within the utility sector, a lot is changing. Utilities continue to pursue digital transformation, altering the way services are delivered and operations are managed. What hasn’t changed is the criticality of the services provided. These organizations deliver essential resources like natural gas, electricity, and water—services that we as consumers rely upon constantly for our comfort, sustenance, communications, and more.