Why IT performance & observability are critical to business growth

Technologists in Singapore have a major opportunity to elevate their careers and truly change public perception of the IT industry.

The pandemic has been around for just over a year, and it has taken the world that long to come to grips with it. There will never be a return to the “old normal”. Countries are working on ways to safely resume businesses and reopen borders, and vaccines are rolling off the production line and into arms at record pace. However, amidst all of the loss and hardship of last year, we’ve also seen how resilient and strong people can be when we work together toward a common goal. This was especially prominent in the technology space, where IT leaders faced enormous pressure to support a global workforce that suddenly had to transition to remote work in the span of a few short weeks.

In the technology industry, we watched organisations discover a whole new appreciation for IT leaders. These unlikely heroes supported the IT needs that enabled entire workforces and businesses to be primed for remote work and to render continuous support while working from home. They accelerated digital transformation projects, delivering in weeks what would normally have taken months, empowering their organisations to deliver stronger customer experiences as businesses shifted to a digital-first approach. Supporting everything from COVID-19 contact tracing platforms like SingPass Mobile and the TraceTogether app, to the accelerated digitalisation of various industries like healthcare, manufacturing, and banking and retail, IT teams played an essential role in many aspects of our lives throughout the course of this unprecedented time. 

Technologists have never been more critical to the success of the businesses they support, and we believe the paradigm shift in the world of work could bring an extremely valuable opportunity for them to elevate their careers, truly change the perception of the IT industry and its impact on meaningful business outcomes.

It will be paramount that IT teams are granted the tools, technologies and support needed to deliver on this opportunity. 92% of technologists in Singapore recognise that having the ability to monitor all technical areas across their IT stack and directly link that performance to business outcomes is now essential to delivering first-class digital experiences and accelerating digital transformation.

It’s this realisation that has technologists excited about all of the meaningful changes they can bring to every industry around the world. As we look to recover, rebuild and fortify, it goes without saying that technologists will have a crucial part to play in that process. For technologists looking to spark change, here are the key reasons why IT performance and observability are critical to business recovery in 2021 and beyond.

Observability takes centre stage

As demand for digital apps and services grows, IT leaders must now be able to connect observability to business outcomes.

With increasing pressure mounting on teams across industries, observability will be key as companies continue to develop more complex IT systems and expand their technology infrastructures. Using observability solutions will enable IT teams to cut through the noise and focus on the performance issues that have the biggest impact on the business.

User experience informs business decisions

Part of the reason it’s important to keep technology solutions operating at their highest level is to maintain a consistent digital user experience. This year, user experience will matter more than ever as workers and consumers expect infallibility from the digital experiences that have become so integral to their everyday lives.

To successfully navigate this need for a seamless digital user experience, businesses will need to view maintaining their applications and technology stack not just as one-off projects, but as business-critical solutions that serve as the backbone to providing the ideal experience for end users.

Another element of this new emphasis on user experience will include an elevated focus on observability not just at the application level, but beyond. For businesses that want to thrive, incorporating network visibility into existing monitoring efforts can ensure that nothing impedes the user experience, whether it’s an anomaly in an application or an issue that stems from the internet. This enables end-users to have the best possible experience as IT teams are able to spot and address issues efficiently.

Technology brings even bigger impact to business outcomes

The past year has put a spotlight on IT teams and demonstrated just how important technologists are to the success of any business. We call those elite technologists “Agents of Transformation” for their commitment to driving successful digital transformation within a company.

AppDynamics’ Agents of Transformation 2021: The Rise of Full Stack Observability found that for 92% of technologists in Singapore the biggest challenge they will face in 2021 will be the need to drive through a transformation at speed​, and 88% claimed that their response to the pandemic has created more IT complexity than ever experienced. These battle-weary technologists are treading on eggshells – and need all the help they can get in 2021 if they are to spur business recovery. .

In 2021, technologists will have an opportunity to impact business-critical outcomes more than ever before. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized an urgent need for flawless digital experiences that will have lasting impacts in the future. Organizations are already seeing the benefits of enabling their IT teams to take calculated risks and drive a faster, more innovative approach and will continue to invest in those teams and solutions in the new year.

Although this phase of the pandemic may soon be ending with the roll-out of vaccines worldwide, digitalisation shows no sign of slowing down. In this increasingly volatile and unpredictable landscape, we have no doubt that businesses will face many new challenges this year. But as always, we believe that technology will continue to play an integral role. Beyond survival, long-term success may just hinge on how well your digital services perform.