Monitoring has long been a foundational element of any managed services portfolio. But as IT environments grow more distributed and complex, organizations now expect service providers to go further—beyond simply tracking metrics to truly observing what’s happening across their systems in real time.
From monitoring to true insight
Traditional monitoring focuses on predefined metrics that signal when something might be going wrong. While useful, monitoring alone can’t reliably pinpoint why a problem is occurring. Root cause analysis requires deeper visibility, which is only possible through observability platforms capable of analyzing vast amounts of telemetry data.
There’s no shortage of observability solutions on the market, and many enterprises and managed service providers (MSPs) have already adopted them. Yet many organizations still struggle to determine which platform best fits their requirements.
Recent research underscores this shift. A LogicMonitor survey of 100 IT decision‑makers found that 62 percent plan to increase spending on observability initiatives over the next 12–24 months, while just 4 percent expect to decrease spending. At the same time, 67 percent say they are very or somewhat likely to switch observability platforms within the next one to two years.
An overwhelming 84 percent are consolidating tools (41 percent) or considering it (43 percent), and nearly three‑quarters (74 percent) would adopt a single observability platform if it meets their needs. More than half (51 percent) admit they’re already struggling with too many tools.
AI, security, and the need for platform convergence
Given the rapid advancement of technology, it’s no surprise that 63 percent of respondents say AI initiatives are a top priority, followed by security (52 percent) and cloud infrastructure and services (36 percent). However, despite the emphasis on AI, only 12 percent are currently using it to automate root cause analysis and remediation, and just 4 percent have fully operationalized AI across their IT operations.
This drive toward convergence extends beyond operations. Larger organizations are beginning to unify IT and cybersecurity workflows. A Sumo Logic survey of 506 cybersecurity leaders in companies with 500+ employees found that 80 percent report security and DevOps teams already share observability tools. Still, fewer than half (45 percent) say these teams are highly aligned on tooling and workflows, and 43 percent describe them as only “somewhat” aligned.
Why MSPs are poised to lead
As IT environments grow even more intricate—especially in the era of AI—the need for observability will only accelerate. Yet deploying and managing these platforms remains a significant challenge for internal IT teams. They face hurdles such as:
- Collecting and storing immense volumes of telemetry data
- Building analytics expertise to uncover root causes
- Connecting analytics to automation systems capable of executing remediation
Most internal teams can’t operationalize observability at this scale on their own. This creates a major opportunity for MSPs: to elevate their offerings and deliver advanced visibility, analytics, and automation as integrated, turnkey services.
MSPs are in a unique position to help organizations bridge the gap between monitoring and true observability—and those that embrace this shift will stand out as strategic partners in an increasingly complex IT landscape.
Photo: / Shutterstock
This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.