Key Challenges & Context: Monitoring That Couldn’t Keep Up
For this global enterprise, their Dynatrace platform had become a bottleneck. The business grew but the monitoring system was failing to provide the clear, real-time insights they needed to stay ahead.
Here is an overview of the challenges they were facing:
- Because of disconnected monitoring tools, tracking service performance was a guessing game.
- Manual processes were heavy on IT teams, which gave them no time for innovation and strategy.
- The lack of consistent frameworks for logging and incident management meant the team struggled to stay organized during critical events.
- The platform couldn’t scale with the growing business which put operations at risk.
The system was clearly holding the company back. The team realized they needed a solution that could provide clarity, improve efficiency, and scale with the business.
Our Approach: Solving Visibility, Reducing Overhead, and Ensuring Scalability
The client needed a solution to address operational inefficiencies and prepare for future growth. Here’s how we tackled the challenges:
1. Standardized the monitoring foundation
We worked with the client to build a sustainable monitoring strategy that included standardized logging practices and retention policies. This foundation made the entire system more organized and ensured that data could be easily accessed and managed across the board.
2. Trained internal teams to become self-sufficient
The client didn’t want to have to rely on our experts for every little change. So, we focused on making their internal teams self-sufficient. We delivered customized Datadog training, workshops and a self-service knowledge base on monitoring, alerting, and troubleshooting, so their team could handle monitoring on their own.
3. Defined the right metrics
We worked directly with the application teams to define Service Level Indicators (SLIs) and Service Level Objectives (SLOs) that aligned with their business goals. We also implemented synthetic testing to proactively monitor user experience, so the client could address issues before they impacted users.
4. Phased the migration
We knew the transition needed to be smooth and risk-free as possible, so we took a phased approach to the migration:
- Pilot: We started by migrating one non-critical service to Datadog to refine the process.
- Scaling: With lessons learned, we expanded the migration to high-impact services.
- Full Rollout: We automated the deployment and made sure the migration was swift, which reduced the manual effort and minimized the potential of human error.
5. Cut the toil with automation
Our client’s biggest frustration was the time spent on manual tasks. To address this, we set up automation features within Datadog, such as filtering out alert noise and creating auto-remediation scripts. We integrated the system with JIRA Service Desk to streamline ticketing, ensuring faster, more efficient responses to incidents.
Benefits
Migrating from Dynatrace to Datadog was a game changer for our client. Let’s break down the numbers:
- With the new system in place, Mean Time to Detect (MTTD) and Mean Time to Resolve (MTTR) dropped by a solid 40%.
- Proactive monitoring led to a 25% reduction in major incidents, thanks to better visibility and automated alerting.
- With the new tools in place, developers spent more time coding and less time firefighting.
- The migration to Datadog helped our client reduce overall operational costs. By optimizing their logging and alerting systems, they cut down unnecessary data usage and saved thousands of dollars each year.
Ready to Transform Your Monitoring?
If you’re facing similar challenges with visibility, overhead, or scalability, it’s time to make a change. Connect with us today to see how we can help you build a more future-proof monitoring system.