[blog] OTel integration for Otterize network mapper (open-telemetry#3545)

Co-authored-by: Severin Neumann <[email protected]>

Author: davidgs

content/en/blog/2023/otterize-otel/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+---
+title: Adding OpenTelemetry support to the Otterize network mapper
+linkTitle: OTel integration for Otterize network mapper
+date: 2023-11-15
+author: >-
+  [Ori Shoshan](https://github.com/orishoshan) (Otterize), [David G.
+  Simmons](https://github.com/davidgs) (Otterize)
+cSpell:ignore: brainer Otterize Shoshan
+---
+
+{{< blog/integration-badge >}}
+
+## A no-brainer integration: Adding OpenTelemetry support to the Otterize network mapper
+
+[Otterize](https://otterize.com/) automates workload Identity and Access
+Management (IAM) for zero-trust, automating policies like Kubernetes network
+policies, Istio policies, AWS IAM policies, and more, through a collection of
+[open source projects](https://github.com/otterize). To enable that automation,
+Otterize built the [network mapper](https://github.com/otterize/network-mapper).
+Otterize network mapper is a standalone Kubernetes tool that builds a live
+network map of your infrastructure, and can visualize it into an image file, as
+an interactive graph on Otterize Cloud, or export it as ClientIntents, a custom
+Kubernetes resource that describes each workload’s required access, or their
+“intentions”. It’s designed to be a zero-config deployment that immediately
+provides a network map, along with being light on resource use, and requiring
+the lowest privileges possible. At its core, it collects DNS traffic and
+analyzes it to figure out what communications look like.
+
+The awesome folks at
+[ServiceNow Cloud Observability](https://www.servicenow.com/products/observability.html)
+(formerly Lightstep)
+[recently contributed OpenTelemetry exporting support to the network mapper](https://github.com/otterize/network-mapper/pull/141).
+This means that you can now use the network mapper to generate a network map of
+your infrastructure, and export OpenTelemetry data to a Grafana Tempo instance,
+to see a service graph without making any changes to the services deployed in
+your cluster.
+
+[A screenshot showing a Grafana Tempo service graph](otterize-otel.png)
+
+This integration was simple: the OpenTelemetry SDK is easy to use and fits like
+a glove into the existing network mapper code.
+
+### How does OpenTelemetry work with the network mapper?
+
+With the service graph, you'll be able to see what services are communicating
+with each other. You can then use that information for operational or security
+needs, such as determining the blast radius of a downtime or security incident.
+You can use the service graph to figure out where to start rolling out
+OpenTelemetry tracing, as that deployment tends to be more involved and requires
+the integration of the OpenTelemetry SDK into your source code.
+
+While it was easy to use the OTel SDK for the network mapper, we can see why
+there's a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem here when you're looking into
+OpenTelemetry: to start seeing significant value with tracing, you really need
+to see a bunch of services together, and that can be a lot to do as your first
+step.
+
+Since the network mapper doesn’t require you to change any of your existing
+application code, the barrier to entry for getting started with OpenTelemetry is
+significantly reduced. This is a great way to get started with emitting
+OpenTelemetry metrics for each service in your infrastructure and to
+understanding how your services interact with each other, before committing to a
+more significant OpenTelemetry rollout.
+
+### The strength of open source in action!
+
+We never initially contemplated adding this feature because it didn't cross our
+minds, but its value is undeniable, particularly for those deploying the network
+mapper and utilizing Grafana Tempo, or individuals exploring OpenTelemetry.
+
+It's great that the ServiceNow Cloud Observability Team stumbled upon the
+network mapper and graciously contributed this enhancement, making the network
+mapper seamlessly integrate with OpenTelemetry and Grafana. This is the beauty
+of open source collaboration!
+
+If you're interested in exploring or contributing to our project, head on over
+to
+[https://github.com/otterize/network-mapper](https://github.com/otterize/network-mapper).

content/en/blog/2023/otterize-otel/otterize-otel.png

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