Back in May, Amit Parikh wrote about the four ways to transform your business in the ROI of proactive database observability. We're excited to share that the recent release of Foglight 8.0 is engineered to help you realize these benefits. But first, let's take a step back and look at what's been happening in database monitoring over the last couple of years.
Industry trends
The IT industry has been on a relentless drive toward tool consolidation. Application Performance Management (APM) and full-stack observability tools have led the charge, promising a unified view across complex IT environments. While this approach has definitely brought many benefits, it has also created critical blind spots, particularly when it comes to database performance. You can read more about these in Mark Gowdy's post on common observability challenges and steps to overcome them.
The reality is that while APM tools can tell you that a query is slow, they often can't explain why. They treat the database as a "black box," unable to provide the deep-dive diagnostics needed to resolve complex issues like deadlocks, blocking sessions, or memory pressure. This gap is not just a technical inconvenience; it's a business risk.
The growing complexity of hybrid and multi-platform database estates, with 70% of IT teams managing three or more database platforms, further exacerbates this challenge. As industry analysts at Gartner have noted, "The criticality of database server and database instance monitoring is often overlooked, but it is key to managing application performance. As I&O shifts its focus to observability, renewing attention on database monitoring will augment observability tool capabilities and improve digital experiences.". This is where true database observability becomes an essential part of your toolkit.
Introducing Foglight 8.0: Database Observability Made Simple
We're excited to announce the release of Foglight 8.0, designed to bridge the gap left by traditional observability tools. This latest version empowers DBAs, developers, and IT leaders to move beyond basic monitoring and embrace proactive database observability. Foglight 8.0 introduces two groundbreaking features:
- AI Alarms
- Query Explorer
You can find the full details of all other features and bug fixes in the official release notes.
Resolve Issues Faster with AI-Powered Alarms
Imagine getting an alert for a potential issue and, along with it, a set of actionable recommendations for how to fix it. That's the power of Foglight AI Alarms. This new add-on feature uses generative AI to provide troubleshooting guidance directly within the Foglight interface. When an alarm is triggered, you'll receive a summary of the problem, a list of possible causes, and step-by-step instructions to resolve it. You can even ask follow-up questions to get more refined suggestions. Foglight AI Alarms is designed with your security and privacy in mind.
For more information on setting up and using this feature, check out the documentation on Setting AI Alarms.
Eliminate Blind Spots with Query Explorer
How often have you been handed a slow-running query from an APM tool with no context to diagnose it? Or writing SQL code but lack execution or performance tuning information? Query Explorer is the answer. This powerful new feature allows you to simply copy a SQL statement from any tool, be it observability tools like Dynatrace, Datadog, New Relic, AppDynamics, or database management tools like our Toad or SQL Server Management Studio, and paste it directly into Foglight to get a wealth of performance details. It's a game-changer for DBAs who need instant diagnostics and for developers who need to rapidly tune their code.
Instead of treating the database like a black box like full stack observability tools do, Query Explorer empowers you to:
- Seamlessly investigate any query: Simply paste the SQL text from any of your existing tools, whether it's an APM platform or SSMS, into Query Explorer. Foglight instantly provides a complete breakdown of its performance, including resource consumption and critical bottlenecks, all in one place.
- Focus on what matters most: Stop guessing where the problem is. You can instantly pinpoint your most resource-intensive queries, allowing you to prioritize optimization efforts on the code that has the biggest impact on performance.
- Streamline your tuning workflow: Eliminate the need to constantly switch between applications. Go directly from identifying a slow query to conducting a deep-dive analysis within Foglight, creating a single, efficient path from detection to resolution.
- Empower your entire team: With an intuitive interface designed for speed, Query Explorer is built not just for expert DBAs, but also for developers, architects, and IT leaders who need to rapidly diagnose issues and ensure application performance and resilience.
Initially available for SQL Server and PostgreSQL, Query Explorer provides all the relevant database metrics you need for a thorough analysis, without requiring deep expertise in each specific platform. Learn more about how to use this feature by visiting our documentation on Viewing Query Explorer.
The Business Value of Proactive Observability
Enhancing your full stack observability tools with dedicated database observability, Foglight 8.0 delivers tangible business value. Our customers have seen significant results, including:
- 30% reduction in cloud database spending
- 40% faster incident resolution
- 20% fewer performance escalations
By providing deeper insights and actionable intelligence, Foglight helps you not only save money but also drive revenue growth and gain significant efficiency. To learn more about the financial benefits, read our blog on The ROI of Proactive Database Observability.
With Foglight 8.0, you can finally fill the visibility gaps in your monitoring strategy and ensure your
databases are a source of strength, not a point of failure
