Observability, the process of monitoring software and infrastructure in production, is growing more complex rather than simpler.
A recent survey reveals that 69% of devops professionals are concerned about the rapid expansion of observability data, complicating the identification of anomalies. Additionally, they face the challenge of managing an increasing array of observability tools.
Software developers Juraj Masar and Veronika Kolejak have personally encountered these challenges. Masar, a serial entrepreneur, most recently worked as VP of Engineering at Represent.com. Kolejak, with a background in biochemistry, has worked in engineering roles at Shopify, Google, and Merck.
Masar, in a conversation with TechCrunch, expressed frustration with the current state of developer tools, which are numerous, expensive, and outdated, and require significant time to master.
To address these issues, Masar and Kolejak launched Better Stack in 2021. This observability platform integrates monitoring, logging, and incident management into one dashboard. It supports a range of functions, including app, website, server, and database monitoring, delivering alerts, scheduling tasks like on-call duties, and utilizing algorithms to standardize metrics from various logs and sources.
While Better Stack is a player in the observability suite market, it faces competition from other companies like Observe, which specializes in handling machine-generated data and logs, and Chronosphere, valued at over $1.6 billion. Other competitors include Pantomath and Honeycomb, which recently received a $50 million investment.
Despite the competition, Masar believes that Better Stack has several advantages over its rivals.