https://oypron.com/tags/metrics/Recent content in Metrics on Tech Notes - A Developer's JournalHugoen-usSun, 08 Mar 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://oypron.com/posts/observability-with-opentelemetry/Sun, 08 Mar 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://oypron.com/posts/observability-with-opentelemetry/<p>I&rsquo;ve adopted OpenTelemetry on three different services over the last two years, with varying success. This post is the honest version of what I&rsquo;ve learned: where it pays off, where the friction lives, and what I would do differently next time.</p> <h2 id="the-three-signals-ranked-by-effort-vs-payoff">The three signals, ranked by effort vs payoff</h2> <p>OTel covers traces, metrics, and logs. They are not equally easy to adopt and they don&rsquo;t deliver equal value.</p> <p><strong>Traces — high payoff, moderate effort.</strong> The first time you see a flame graph showing exactly where a slow request spent its 800ms, all the instrumentation work feels worth it. Auto-instrumentation libraries cover most of what you need (HTTP, database, Redis, gRPC) so the upfront cost is mostly: install SDK, configure exporter, deploy. Worth doing first.</p>