Blog Post 9 One-Minute Insights from Stonebranch Online 2023

Not much in the world of IT automation can be described as quick and easy. Yet many of the speakers who participated in Stonebranch Online 2023 were able to provide simple explanations for some pretty complex subjects — without even hitting the two-minute mark.

Maybe there is some truth to the saying, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

See what our experts had to say below. Whether you're looking for a quick refresher on a familiar topic or want to learn something new, these videos are a great place to start.

What is Observability?

In today's data-driven world, observability has emerged as a critical practice for understanding and managing complex IT systems. Here, Stonebranch experts dive into the fundamentals of observability, exploring its role in modern IT operations and the tools that facilitate its implementation.

Observability and OpenTelemetry

During the opening keynote event, Stonebranch CTO Peter Baljet defines observability and discusses the role of OpenTelemetry, an open-source project that provides a unified set of APIs, SDKs, and tools for instrumenting applications to generate telemetry data.

Understanding Observability: Metrics, Traces, and Logs

During the observability training session, Stonebranch product management director Colin Cocksedge provides a slightly more technical description of observability, focusing on the three key types of telemetry data: metrics, traces, and logs. Metrics are numerical values that measure the performance of a system, traces are records of individual requests or transactions, and logs are collections of text messages that record events or actions in a system.

Monitoring vs Observability

Colin returns for this video to explain the distinction between monitoring and observability, two terms that are often used interchangeably. Monitoring is the process of collecting and analyzing data to detect and identify problems, while observability is the ability to understand the state and behavior of a system by analyzing its telemetry data.

The IT Automation Vendor Market

The IT automation vendor market is an ever-evolving landscape, with numerous vendors offering a variety of solutions to address the challenges of automating IT processes. Here, industry analysts delve into the current state of the market, highlighting key trends and providing insights into the evaluation of orchestration tools.

The State of Digital Transformation: A Decade of Progress

Dan Twing, CEO of Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), explains how digital transformation and automation are tied together, and how automation can be used to accelerate digital transformation initiatives. Watch more of Dan's industry analysis here: The Move from Automation to Orchestration.

Key Steps in Evaluating Orchestration Tools

John O’Brien, COO of Radiant Advisors, summarizes the key steps that organizations should take when evaluating orchestration tools, including identifying the need for an orchestration tool, defining the requirements, and evaluating vendors. Watch the full session to get more tips from John on Choosing a DataOps/MLOps Orchestration Platform.

Stonebranch: A Value Leader in Architecture and Integration

Dan Twing dives deeper into his evaluation of the workload automation and orchestration market to highlight what makes Stonebranch stand out from the crowd, particularly in the areas of architecture and integrations.

Real-World Automation Examples

During Stonebranch Online, a variety of Stonebranch experts, industry analysts, and Universal Automation Center users showcase their real-world experiences. Watch the videos below to see how organizations have successfully implemented automation to transform their workflows and drive business value.

Navigating File Transfers in a Complex Cloud Environment

In this video, Stonebranch Senior Application Engineer Mike Scher provides a brief explanation of the Managed File Transfer (MFT) landscape. He illustrates the different types of MFT solutions and how they can be used to manage file transfers in today’s complex hybrid IT environments.

Embedding Automation in Employee Workflows

Here, John O’Brien explains the importance of automation to reduce friction and enhance self-service efficiency, and how Stonebranch can be used to automate tasks across a wide range of employee workflows.

The Result: A Unified Solution

Anwar Syed, Associate Manager, IT Infrastructure and Operations at Colgate-Palmolive, talks about the results his team has achieved by implementing Stonebranch Universal Automation Center (UAC), including improved efficiency, reduced costs, and increased agility. Hear more about the Colgate-Stonebranch story here: Cloud-First SaaS Approach to Orchestration.

Dive Deeper On-Demand

Looking for more insight beyond the minute mark? All of the Stonebranch Online 2023 sessions are available on-demand here: Orchestrate Your Universe with Stonebranch Online 2023.