What is our primary use case?
We use Splunk in APM to monitor our applications. So, we integrated it into our systems to enhance our monitoring and observing capabilities, especially for our microservices.
So, we have used Splunk APM for this.
How has it helped my organization?
APM integrates well with Splunk’s other observability solutions. These logs with application performance monitoring can significantly impact our business in several positive ways, like troubleshooting and root cause analysis.
Using these logs with APM, we can collaborate performance metrics with log data. It allows us to pinpoint the exact cause of issues, such as identifying specific errors in the logs. Because of this, we have access to faster resolution and detailed logs alongside performance metrics, enabling quicker diagnosis and resolution of problems. It also helps us minimize downtime and improve system reliability.
Additionally, it improves our performance optimization with detailed insights and analyzing historical log data along with APM metrics. This allows us to understand long-term trends and make informed decisions about performance improvements and better user experience, like error reduction and proactive monitoring.
Splunk has reduced our mean time to resolution by 30%.
If there is any issue in Splunk; we’ll identify the issue first and look for the error messages, like alerting with the Splunk user interface or in the logs that might indicate what the issue is and then determine which part of Splunk is affected.
Then, we’ll refer to the Splunk official documentation and check the system's health. We’ll review the logs. By following these steps, I can resolve the issues with Splunk, ensuring that our monitoring and analytics capabilities remain effective.
What is most valuable?
Mainly, I like Splunk APM because it will show the errors compared to other tools. We use the dashboards to monitor our applications. It will tell us the errors, and we can solve them quickly.
I have used APM but haven’t used Trace Analyzer, though I have some knowledge of it. We are able to implement it. We have some Trace Log Points in Splunk APM to catch the errors. We have a special graph for it where we can see the red points.
We use OpenTelemetry. OpenTelemetry and Splunk APM are similar in terms of observability and monitoring. We use it for observability standardization, which allows us to collect traces and metrics, making it easier to work with different monitoring tools, including Splunk APM. It is more flexible because it allows us to instrument our applications without being locked into a specific monitoring vendor.
It supports collecting traces, metrics, and logs from our applications, providing a comprehensive view of our performance and health endpoints. This data can be fed into Splunk APM, giving us in-depth analysis and insights about our application.
What needs improvement?
Splunk APM is a robust tool with many capabilities. There are always areas for potential improvement to enhance its functionality and user experience.
For Splunk APM, there could be simplified navigation, like streamlining the user interface to make navigation more intuitive for our users, especially those new to APM, which can enhance usability. We can provide more customization options for dashboards and visualizations to help users tailor the platform to their specific needs.
There could be more integration capabilities with a wider range of third-party tools and platforms would also be beneficial. By focusing on these areas, Splunk APM can enhance its value proposition, improve user satisfaction, and better meet the evolving needs of organizations monitoring their application performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I never had an issue with the stability. It worked fine.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
My team has used alternatives to Splunk APM, like Datadog and New Relic.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy. To fully deploy it, we had to add some signal effects into our applications and just deploy it. It took like 20 minutes. That’s it.
What about the implementation team?
We took some help from our teams and my senior manager and also from other teams across our company. We connected and did all this together.
For deployment, one person can do it, actually, but as we are junior developers, we took help from our senior manager, like three to four people.
Splunk is good like this now. I don’t think any updates would be required, but there are some regular updates and upgrades of Splunk APM, like software updates, version upgrades, and all.
These provide more powerful monitoring capabilities and help ensure the system remains reliable, secure, and aligned with organizational needs. Regular updates, performance tuning, and proactive management help in maximizing these benefits of the Splunk solution.
What was our ROI?
We’ll see the results after the deployment. It’s not that late, and that’s the reason we are using Splunk APM.
Splunk made our job easier in a way. It will give the points when we use any dashboards, and there are no delays in everything, like performance. It will give the error issues very clearly, and it will monitor 24/7. It will show the issues, and it is very effective. It will pinpoint the exact cause of the issues, and it will help us troubleshoot the issues very fast.
It benefits the IT staff in other teams, like operations, improves efficiency, and manages the IT environments more effectively. When it centralizes the logs and search analytics, the powerful capabilities allow IT teams to perform in-depth troubleshooting, identify root causes, and analyze complex issues with ease.
Splunk also provides real-time visibility into IT infrastructure, and we have connected with cross-functional teams around our team to work with Splunk APM. It supports proactive management, enhances security, and improves operational efficiency. It facilitates better collaboration across the team.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is based on several factors, including the scale of deployment. The pricing model typically includes considerations like the number of hosts, features, and capabilities.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.