Fueling Kentik's Next Wave of Network Observability Innovation

Leveraging Deep Understanding of Kentik Platform and Market Trends to Propose Actionable Product Enhancements

Executive Summary

Kentik stands at the forefront of network observability, offering unparalleled visibility and intelligence. Recognizing the rapidly changing market and Kentik's commitment to innovation, I've analyzed the current offering and market demands to identify key opportunities for product evolution that directly translate to enhanced user value.


This page presents actionable proposals to proactively advance Kentik, expanding its market reach and solidifying its position as the go-to solution for organizations seeking exceptional network observability, driven by a deep appreciation for your technology and the evolving landscape.

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Kentik: Appreciating The Foundation

My background in Networking, Observability, Performance Monitoring, AIOps, and Solutions Engineering aligns strongly with Kentik's technology foundation. Specifically, my experience with TSDB, distributed query engines, telemetry protocols, APIs, NMS, and Agent Architecture provides a solid base to contribute meaningfully.

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Data Collection & Ingestion

Diverse Data Sources: Data from a wide range of sources, including flow records (NetFlow, sFlow, IPFIX), SNMP, BGP, synthetic tests, and cloud provider logs
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​High-Speed Ingestion: Built to handle massive data volumes, with support for trillions of records per day per cluster​.
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​Data Normalization: Kentik normalizes data from different sources using a common data model, enabling consistent analysis and reporting.


Kentik Data Engine (KDE)

Purpose-Built Big Data Engine: Proprietary big data engine designed specifically for network observability.
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​Scalable Storage: Provides scalable storage and data management at a multi-petabyte scale.
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​High Availability: Ensures data durability and high availability through replication and resync mechanisms.
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​Efficient Indexing: Indexing for fast data retrieval and analysis without linear scans.
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​Data Compression: Data compression for efficient storage and faster I/O read speeds


Data Enrichment & Contextualization

Enrichment with Metadata: Enriches raw network data with context, such as geolocation, device information, and application details.
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​Custom Dimensions: Allows users to define custom dimensions to further enrich data and tailor analysis to their specific needs.

Data Analysis & Visualization

Universal Data Explorer: A powerful tool for exploring and analyzing network data, creating custom dashboards, and conducting ad-hoc queries.
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​Kentik AI: Leverages AI and machine learning for anomaly detection, predictive analytics, and AI-assisted troubleshooting.
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​Network Traffic Visualization: Live network topology maps and detailed visualizations to quickly identify network issues and their impact.

Integrations & APIs

Open APIs: Open APIs for integration with other IT management tools and systems, enabling automation and workflow customization.
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​Third-Party Integrations: Integrationswith various third-party solutions, such as security information and event management (SIEM) tools and incident response platforms.

Deployment Models

SaaS Platform: Kentik's platform is primarily delivered as a cloud-based SaaS solution, offering scalability, ease of deployment, and automatic updates.

Hybrid and On-Premises Options: Provides options for hybrid and on-premises deployments for customers with specific needs or regulatory requirements.​​
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Areas for Product Evolution: Driving Innovation and Market Differentiation

Proactive and Context-Aware Anomaly Response & Automation

Problem/Opportunity

Kentik excels at anomaly detection. However, automating responses and providing more context-aware remediation guidance can significantly reduce Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) and improve operational efficiency.

Proposed Solution:

Automated Runbooks/Workflows: Develop pre-defined and customizable automated runbooks triggered by specific anomaly types. These could include actions like:

  • Automated diagnostic tests (ping, traceroute, synthetic tests) launched upon anomaly detection.
  • Dynamic threshold adjustments based on learned behavior from Kentik AI.
  • Integration with orchestration tools (like Itential, as mentioned in Kentik Integrations) to automatically re-route traffic or scale resources in cloud environments.

Context Enrichment for Remediation: Enhance Kentik AI to analyze correlated data (device metrics, application performance, user impact) to provide richer context for anomalies, suggesting likely root causes and recommended actions directly within the UI. This aligns with Kentik AI's "Telemetry Correlation" capabilities and can significantly improve troubleshooting.

Benefit:

Significantly reduces manual troubleshooting effort, leading to faster issue resolution and lower MTTR (key metric for network observability). Proactive prevention of service disruptions enhances customer satisfaction and improves operational efficiency. This also frees up engineering resources to focus on strategic initiatives, directly benefiting the Engineering Operations Director's responsibilities.

Enhanced User Experience and Accessibility for Diverse Skill Levels

Problem/Opportunity:
​The "Skills Gap" is a recognized challenge in the NMS market. Making Kentik NMS more intuitive and accessible to users with varying technical expertise will broaden its appeal, reduce onboarding friction, and unlock the value of network observability for a wider audience. This addresses the need for "Simplified Network Tooling" in Kentik's benefits.


​Proposed Solution:

  • Guided Onboarding and Configuration Wizards: Develop intuitive wizards for common setup tasks like device onboarding, dashboard creation, and initial alert configuration. Leverage Kentik AI to auto-discover devices and suggest optimal configurations.
  • Improved Natural Language Query Capabilities (Kentik AI Expansion): Expand NLP beyond basic questions. Allow users to express more complex analytical requests and troubleshooting steps in natural language. Example: "Show me the bandwidth utilization for all interfaces on routers experiencing high latency in the last hour and suggest potential bottlenecks, and suggest peering partners based on traffic flows for optimization."
  • Role-Based Dashboards and Views: Offer pre-configured dashboards and views tailored to different user roles (Network Engineer, Security Analyst, Executive, Business Stakeholder), providing relevant information upfront and simplifying navigation.

Benefit:

Wider market adoption and faster time-to-value for new users. Reduces training costs and empowers broader teams to leverage network insights. Addresses the "Skills Gap" challenge head-on, increasing accessibility and usability. This impacts user satisfaction and sales, which are important operational aspects.

Deeper Integration with Security Ecosystems for Proactive Threat Detection

Problem/Opportunity:
​Network observability data is invaluable for security. Tighter integration with SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) and security orchestration tools can enhance threat detection, proactive security posture, and response capabilities within Kentik NMS, aligning with the "Centralized Observability" and "Integrated Security" features of Kentik NMS.

Proposed Solution:

  • Bi-directional SIEM Integrations: Go beyond just sending alerts to SIEMs. Enable Kentik to consume threat intelligence from SIEMs and security platforms. This allows Kentik to proactively identify and flag suspicious network behavior based on known threat indicators. Leverage existing "SIEM Integrations" capabilities in Kentik Integrations.
  • Automated Security Posture Assessments: Leverage Kentik AI to analyze network traffic patterns and device configurations against security best practices and compliance standards (e.g., CIS benchmarks, GDPR), providing automated security posture assessments and actionable recommendations for improvement.
  • Security-Focused Dashboards and Reports: Develop dedicated dashboards and reports specifically for security teams, highlighting potential threats, vulnerabilities, and compliance gaps identified through network observability data.

Benefit:

Strengthened security posture for Kentik customers. Expanded use cases for security teams, offering competitive differentiation by providing a more security-centric NMS solution. Seamless integration with existing security workflows enhances operational efficiency and reduces security risks, areas of high concern for executive management.

Areas for Product Evolution: Driving Innovation and Market Differentiation

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John Doe

"Using Kentik has significantly optimized our network operations and provided invaluable insights."

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Jane Smith

"The proactive alerting systems have improved our response times and network reliability."

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Michael Brown

"Kentik's visualization tools are intuitive and provide a clear picture of our network health."

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