What is the relationship between Observability and OpenTelemetry?

The relationship between Observability and OpenTelemetry is rooted in OpenTelemetry's role as a framework for collecting and sending telemetry data, which is essential for achieving observability in applications and systems. OpenTelemetry provides a standardized format that facilitates the collection of metrics, logs, and traces from various sources. This standardization helps developers and organizations ensure consistency in how they gather and transmit telemetry data, making it easier to analyze and derive insights from that data to improve application performance and reliability.

By utilizing OpenTelemetry, teams can implement observability practices without worrying about the compatibility of different data formats and collection methods. It enables seamless integration with various back-end systems and monitoring tools, thereby enhancing the overall observability of their applications. This approach stands in contrast to other methods that may lead to vendor lock-in or the use of proprietary data formats, which can complicate data analysis and interoperability between tools.