A 2026 research report from Elastic on observability trends in financial services reveals that 70% of IT leaders now classify their practices as mature or expert, up from 45% a year ago. Key findings include 94% GenAI adoption for observability, a stark gap where 89% expect LLM observability but only 6% have implemented it, OpenTelemetry production usage tripling to 10%, and 95% of organizations facing regulatory compliance challenges. Cost optimization is near-universal with 99% of organizations taking active steps to reduce observability spending. The report also highlights that observability data is expanding beyond IT, with 67% of cybersecurity teams relying on it for threat detection.
Table of contents
The maturity shift: 70% of teams report expert observability practicesNavigating the cost reality: 99% of teams actively reduce observability spendRegulatory pressures and real-time compliance: 95% face regulatory hurdlesThe role of AI and generative AI in observability: 94% adoption ratesThe LLM observability gap: 89% expect it, but only 6% have enabled itStandardizing on OpenTelemetry (OTel): Production usage triples to 10%Expanding beyond IT: 67% of cybersecurity teams rely on observability dataBest practices for implementing a modern observability strategyBuilding resilience in a complex landscapeShareSort: