The impact of AI on software development, CI/CD, and DevOps remains uncertain. However, effective observability processes and tools will be crucial in analyzing these changes. The need for proper observability, especially with the rise of large language models (LLMs), was a central theme at DASH 2024, Datadog’s annual user conference.
As AI and security concerns grow, the shift to cloud-native environments introduces significant disruptions. Observability, supported by OpenTelemetry, is essential for managing the explosion of infrastructure and data.
At DASH 2024, Datadog emphasized the importance of monitoring LLM-powered applications in production. Datadog CTO Alexis Lê-Quôc highlighted the need for specialized data to understand the health, performance, and safety of these applications. Gordon Radlein, engineering director at Datadog, underscored OpenTelemetry’s role in standardizing instrumentation for logs, traces, and metrics.
Datadog introduced several new products and features, developed from extensive customer feedback, including Datadog LLM Observability. This platform offers insights and control over LLM data, addressing the challenges of complex patterns, continuous monitoring, and security risks.
Datadog’s deep integration with OpenTelemetry allows seamless observability across various tools. Radlein announced the unification of the Datadog agent and the OpenTelemetry collector, enhancing data enrichment and product suite integration.
OpenTelemetry standardization enables compatibility with a wide range of tools and platforms. Datadog’s contributions to the project help streamline observability efforts, ensuring comprehensive data collection and analysis.
Danny Driscoll, Datadog’s product manager for container and Kubernetes monitoring, discussed how Datadog Kubernetes Autoscaling can optimize resource use and reduce costs. The tool prioritizes workloads with the most savings potential, automating right-sizing recommendations.
As AI continues to evolve, effective observability will be vital for managing and optimizing software development and deployment processes. Datadog’s commitment to OpenTelemetry and innovative observability tools positions it as a key player in navigating these challenges.