Bridging Platform Engineering and Observability: Empowering Developers with Insights Kasper Borg Nissen, Developer Advocate at @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
A presentation at PlatformCon 25 in June 2025 in by Kasper Borg Nissen
Bridging Platform Engineering and Observability: Empowering Developers with Insights Kasper Borg Nissen, Developer Advocate at @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Who? Developer Advocate at Dash0 KubeCon+CloudNativeCon EU/NA 24/25 Co-Chair CNCF Ambassador Golden Kubestronaut CNCG Aarhus, KCD Denmark Organizer Co-founder & Community Lead Cloud Native Nordics
tl;dr ● OpenTelemetry is standardizing telemetry collection. ● Perses is standardizing dashboards. ● Applying Platform Engineering principles transforms observability from an afterthought into a seamless, scalable, and developer-friendly experience.
Kubernetesʼ Rails moment Bryan Liles at KubeCon+CloudNativeCon North America 2019 @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
To some degree, Platform Engineering is enabling the Rails moment for Kubernetes in many organizations. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
The Principles of Platform Engineering Self-Service Experience Explicit and Consistent APIs Paved Paths/ Golden Paths Modularity Platform as a Product Core Requirements @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
@phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Observability is still fragmented Metrics @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Logs Traces Image by pngtree.com
Observability is still fragmented We donʼt have a metrics problem, or a tracing problem. We have systems problems. Metrics @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Logs Traces Image by pngtree.com
Observability is often fragmented, leading to @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Image by pngtree.com
Observability is often fragmented, leading to Complex Query Languages @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Image by pngtree.com
Observability is often fragmented, leading to Complex Query Languages @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Vendor lock-in Image by pngtree.com
Observability is often fragmented, leading to Complex Query Languages @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Vendor lock-in Metadata Inconsistency Image by pngtree.com
Observability is often fragmented, leading to Complex Query Languages Vendor lock-in Metadata Inconsistency No instrumentation due to high complexity @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Image by pngtree.com
Observability is often fragmented, leading to Complex Query Languages Vendor lock-in No instrumentation due to high complexity @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Metadata Inconsistency Lack of unified insights Image by pngtree.com
We need to find the Rails moment of Observability. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
A shift is happening. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
A shift toward correlation Find related information @phennex kaspernissen.xyz Jump between signals Reconstruct chain of events
A shift toward standardization Instrumentation OTel API & SDK Telemetry Backends The OpenTelemetry Collector auto-instrumentation Time-series database … Log database Receive Process Analysis Tools Export Trace database Infrastructure … Kubernetes … Generate and Emit transmit Inspired by visualizations from LFS148 Collect, Convert, Process, Route, Export transmit Store & Analyze
Vendor - space Instrumentation OTel API & SDK Telemetry Backends The OpenTelemetry Collector auto-instrumentation Time-series database … Log database Receive Process Analysis Tools Export Trace database Infrastructure … Kubernetes … Generate and Emit transmit Inspired by visualizations from LFS148 Collect, Convert, Process, Route, Export transmit Store & Analyze
A shift toward… @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
1/1/20241/1/2025 Commits: 27.168 PRs+Issues: 58.508 Source: CNCF Velocity Commits: 44.486 PRs+Issues: 56.299
So, why OpenTelemetry? Instrument once, use everywhere @phennex Separate telemetry generation from analysis kaspernissen.xyz Make software observable by default Improve how we use telemetry
Thatʼs all great, but how do I make it easily accessible for my developers? @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Platform Engineering for Observability Self-Service Experience Explicit and Consistent APIs Golden Paths Modularity Platform as a Product Core Requirements @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Platform Engineering for Observability Self-Service Experience Auto-Instrumentation Explicit and Consistent APIs Semantic Conventions Golden Paths Observability built-in Modularity Collector Pipelines Platform as a Product Documentation + Support Core Requirements Cross-signal correlation @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
OpenTelemetry Operator Instrumentation OpenTelemetryCollector OpAMPBridge OpenTelemetry Operator @phennex kaspernissen.xyz TargetAllocator
Auto-Instrumentation with the OpenTelemetry Operator Instrumentation Instructs how to inject auto-instrumentation Injects instrumentation in to the pod OpenTelemetry Operator @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Observability doesnʼt stop at instrumentation. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Perses An open specification for dashboards. CNCF Sandbox project @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Dashboards as Code @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Dashboards as Code Perses PersesDatasource perses-operator @phennex kaspernissen.xyz PersesDashboard
Demo PersesDatasource instr. todo-go PersesDashboard Perses Operator todo-java Perses Postgres MySQL Prometheus Inject eBPF-sidecar Inject Java Agent OpenTelemetry Operator Instrumentation @phennex kaspernissen.xyz OpenTelemetry Collector OpenTelemetryCollector Jaeger
Demo time 🙏 @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Letʼs recap… PersesDatasource instr. todo-go PersesDashboard Perses Operator todo-java Perses Postgres MySQL Prometheus Inject eBPF-sidecar Inject Java Agent OpenTelemetry Operator Instrumentation @phennex kaspernissen.xyz OpenTelemetry Collector OpenTelemetryCollector Jaeger
The Real Goal: Observability as a Paved Path @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Observability is evolving - fast. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
OpenTelemetry is standardizing telemetry collection. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Perses is standardizing dashboarding. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Applying Platform Engineering principles can transform observability from an afterthought into a seamless, scalable, and developer-friendly experience. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Observability is a systems problem - not a tracing, logging, or metrics problem. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
When we connect signals together, we empower developers to solve problems faster. @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Thank you! Metrics Open Standards Traces Logs @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
Thank you! Metrics Open Standards Traces Logs @phennex kaspernissen.xyz
