Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2025. Read them in this 17th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.By Mark Callahan, CEO of Cloud Canaries
The cloud is changing, transformed by
software, data, artificial intelligence (AI), and massive computational power
at the fingertips of institutions, businesses, and you. This evolution has
allowed predictive capabilities, autonomous actions and the convergence of
metrics (connecting the dots). Combined, these capabilities create an
inflection period of remarkable creativity. Observability will be transformed
and extended into Observe, Discover and Act. Foremost, Observability 2.0 will
guide and push DevOps forward.
The emerging class of AI-driven solutions
will improve how cloud organizations build, deploy and maintain their systems.
Yet, the even more significant impact will be how these solutions improve the
enterprise. These unstoppable trends
drive DevOps organizations to stay competitive, drive innovation and better
manage the increasingly complex digital landscape. Welcome to DevOps 2.0 and
beyond.
The Rise of New
Observability Pillars
In 2025, I expect you'll see how
observability will no longer be confined to traditional pillars like logs,
metrics, and traces-they are obsolete. New observability pillars will emerge,
centered around predictive visibility, autonomous response and converging
metrics. Predictive visibility will allow organizations to forecast issues
within their cloud and business systems with remarkable accuracy. Rather than
reacting to problems as they arise, teams will proactively address potential
risks, ensuring smooth operations and reducing downtime.
Workload data and telemetry will also
play a central role in new observability approaches. By leveraging new data
streams, organizations will be able to create, validate and fine-tune models
that provide deeper insights into their infrastructure. These models will
enable predictive diagnostics and real-time optimization to stay ahead of
performance bottlenecks and system failures. Ultimately, this approach will
drive smarter decision-making and ensure more resilient and efficient systems.
Autonomous Remediation:
No Team Required
Another groundbreaking development is the
rise of autonomous remediation. By 2025, AI will handle rapid and targeted
responses to infrastructure and business issues, even when teams are
unavailable. For example, if a cloud system detects a configuration error or
resource overload, AI tools will automatically apply the necessary fixes. This
breakthrough will reduce reliance on human intervention, accelerate recovery
times and improve overall efficiency.
Autonomous remediation will also improve
resource allocation. By handling repetitive and time-sensitive tasks, AI will
free teams to focus on higher-value activities like innovation, strategic
planning, and optimizing customer experiences. This resource redistribution
will be a game-changer, especially for lean startups and enterprises operating
under tight budgets.
Convergence of Cloud and Business Metrics
The gap between cloud metrics and
business performance metrics will narrow by 2025. Observability platforms will
collect and integrate data from production floors and virtual cloud
environments to deliver actionable insights. This will help organizations
understand how infrastructure performance directly impacts business outcomes,
such as revenue, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
For example, when a usage pattern
changes, such as turnover in a supply chain cloud application, and correlates
with a drop in commercial sales, AI-observability platforms will quickly
identify the connection and recommend a course of action, such as lowering the
price to meet business goals while maximizing gross margin. This capability
will allow decision-makers to prioritize investments and improvements like
never before.
ROI Boost Through Pricing
Shifts
Another prediction I'll make for 2025 is
the inevitable shift away from traditional consumption-based pricing models to
hybrid pricing. As organizations demand more value from their observability
platforms, vendors will be forced to innovate their pricing structures.
Observability ROI will improve dramatically as teams adopt tools that offer
transparent, outcome-based pricing. This shift will make observability
solutions more accessible, particularly for smaller organizations.
Key Lessons for 2025
As we step into this future, there are
three key lessons for organizations to consider:
- New Methods Over Old
Technology: DevOps 2.0's tools and practices must
be fundamentally different from those of the past. Clinging to outdated
methods will make it difficult to keep pace with competitors who embrace
predictive, autonomous and integrated observability.
- The Power of Data:
Accessibility to high-quality, organized and large data sets will be
essential to Observability 2.0. Observability platforms that can process
and analyze massive amounts of workload data will enable smarter
decision-making and better outcomes.
- The Value of Autonomous
Redistribution: Who wouldn't like to automate
mundane and complex tasks? With AI-driven observability, organizations
will have more resources to focus on strategic, high-impact initiatives.
This shift will improve efficiency and foster innovation and growth.
The Road Ahead
The evolution of observability and DevOps
is shaping a future where systems are smarter, more autonomous and tightly
connected to business outcomes. Organizations of all types and sizes will have
a level playing field as they unlock new levels of efficiency and resilience.
2025 is all about adapting and thriving in the hyper-connected digital world.
DevOps 2.0 isn't just about technology-it's about empowering teams to do more
with less and driving meaningful transformation across industries. The future is
bright, and it's built on the foundation of smarter observability.
##