Transforming Network Observability: How ElastiFlow Streamlined Operations for Our Insurance Enterprise

As a Solutions Architect on the Cloud Platform team at a leading insurance company, my role is to identify gaps in our enterprise architecture, develop solutions to address those gaps and drive innovation within our technology ecosystem. Our team functions much like an enterprise architecture group, ensuring that our technology stack remains efficient, cohesive, and forward-thinking. One of the key challenges we faced was managing a highly fragmented logging environment, with disparate tools deployed across various parts of the organization.

The Challenge: A Siloed Logging Environment

Our organization relied on a combination of legacy tools, Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) flow logs, and custom-built logging stacks, each designed for specific applications and teams. However, the lack of unified visibility across on-premises systems, remote offices, and cloud environments resulted in operational inefficiencies. IT and application teams struggled to correlate network activity, leading to prolonged troubleshooting times and increased reliance on the Cloud Platform team for incident resolution.

Discovering ElastiFlow

We first came across ElastiFlow through a colleague who was familiar with its reputation in the network observability and open-source community. Recognizing its potential to address our fragmented logging infrastructure, we explored the platform further. After reviewing the documentation and conducting initial testing, it became clear that ElastiFlow was the solution we had been searching for.

ElastiFlow’s ease of implementation and immediate value—delivered through its out-of-the-box dashboards—set it apart from other solutions. Compared to our legacy systems, which were cumbersome and lacked accessibility, ElastiFlow offered unmatched flexibility and scalability tailored to our needs.

The Impact of ElastiFlow

Unified Logging Across Environments

Before implementing ElastiFlow, our organization struggled with siloed logging systems. ElastiFlow allowed us to centralize VPC flow logs, on-premises network flow logs, and other critical data sources into a single, unified environment. This provided a comprehensive view of our network activity, breaking down operational barriers and streamlining network observability.

Reducing Time to Resolution

Previously, our team was often the first point of contact for troubleshooting network issues, even when the root cause was outside our domain. By implementing ElastiFlow, we empowered teams across the organization to investigate network issues independently. This significantly reduced the burden on our team and accelerated incident response times.

Cost Flexibility and Scalability

ElastiFlow’s cost-effectiveness was another key advantage. Unlike other solutions that locked us into rigid pricing models, ElastiFlow provided the flexibility to adjust the volume of flows collected, scale up or down as needed, and optimize costs efficiently. This ensured that our network logging solution could evolve with our organization’s needs without excessive financial strain.

Empowering Teams with Data

By democratizing access to network and flow log data, ElastiFlow transformed how our teams troubleshoot and analyze network issues. With centralized access to these logs, teams could take ownership of their investigations, fostering collaboration and reducing reliance on our Cloud Platform team. This shift not only improved operational efficiency but also enhanced cross-team communication.

Future Outlook and Enhancements

Looking ahead, we are exploring ways to integrate application data with network logs to gain deeper insights into system performance. By correlating application performance with network activity, we aim to enhance our observability strategy and optimize troubleshooting further. Additionally, we see potential in leveraging a modern pipeline service to stream VPC flow logs more efficiently, further optimizing our infrastructure.

Conclusion

Our experience with ElastiFlow has demonstrated its ability to simplify complex network environments, reduce troubleshooting time, and provide a scalable, flexible network logging solution. The transition to ElastiFlow has enabled us to overcome initial challenges and establish a streamlined, efficient approach to network observability. For organizations struggling with fragmented network log data and operational inefficiencies, ElastiFlow presents a powerful solution to unify and optimize observability strategies.