Splunk and CloudFabrix are both powerful tools in the realm of IT operations management, but they serve different primary functions, have different use cases and are complementary to each other.
Splunk focuses on organizations requiring real-time visibility into IT operations with powerful search and analysis capabilities for large volumes of data, real-time monitoring and alerting for IT operations, log management, security incident response, Observability, and rich visualizations for AIOps. Splunk also has a large customer base across different verticals and a user community with a large fan base.
On the other hand, CloudFabrix has a strong emphasis on data automation and preparation with its Robotic Data Automation Fabric (RDAF), which enriches telemetry data with real time context and full stack service maps using its Robotic Observability / Telemetry pipelines. CloudFabrix also has the ability to transform Non-OTel Data sources to OTel for ingestion in Splunk Data Platform.
RDAF’s low-code bot based architecture supports 1000+ data sources with the ability to quickly build new bots if needed, especially in the Telco and multi-vendor Networking domains. These bots are orchestrated to automate
- data integration,
- aggregation,
- transformation,
- privacy, governance,
- enrichment,
- correlation,
- routing and
- Intent based automation
This bot orchestration can be further automated with the Macaw GenAI assistant, significantly reducing POV cycles by quickly ingesting enriched data and providing insightful analytics for the IT operations team.
The Best of Both Worlds
Interestingly, CloudFabrix and Splunk have a synergistic relationship, as part of Splunk’s Partnerverse program. CloudFabrix offers a solution called “Splunkify” that enables seamless integration between the two platforms, allowing organizations to leverage the strengths of both for enhanced IT operations management.
CloudFabrix RDAF and Splunk Data Platform can be used together to create a powerful data management and analytics solution. RDAF can preprocess and enrich data before sending it to Splunk for indexing and analysis. This combination can optimize data storage and processing costs, improve data quality, and enhance the overall value derived from data.
CloudFabrix and Splunk: Use Cases and Synergies
Splunkify is a module on CloudFabrix RDAF providing automation to transform RDAF dashboards and apps to Splunk Enterprise Apps. CloudFabrix pipelines further ingest enriched real time data into Splunk data platform visualizing all the insights with Splunk glass tables. Spluniky future proof customer investment for brownfield Splunk deployments and provide asset analytics and unified networking insights for greenfield Splunk deployments.
Synergies Between CloudFabrix and Splunk
- Data-Centric Automation: CloudFabrix automates data integration, preparation, and enrichment across various sources (databases, logs, APIs, etc.).
- Enhanced Data Preparation: CloudFabrix can preprocess data, reducing the load on Splunk and improving search performance.
- Expanded Data Sources: CloudFabrix can integrate data from various sources, making it available for analysis in Splunk.
- AI-Powered Insights in Splunk: CloudFabrix can enrich data with AI-generated insights, enhancing Splunk’s analytical capabilities.
- Cost Optimization: Reducing data management costs and optimizing IT spending.
- Digital Transformation: Supporting digital transformation initiatives by providing data-driven insights and automation.
Personas who can benefit from this integration ?
Macaw Asset Analytics and Unified Network Observability and Automation are the 2 applications which CloudFabrix is providing on the Splunk Data Platform for the above personas. These existing Cisco, Splunk and CloudFabrix customers can now leverage Splunk Data Platform with CloudFabrix Apps.
CloudFabrix Macaw Asset Analytics
CloudFabrix Macaw Asset Analytics provides an agentless real time discovery of assets across the technology stack using the 1000+ preexisting bots and Robotic Observability pipelines. The data from these disparate sources is then transformed, analyzed and correlated to provide
- Accurate inventory
- Identify asset, application and user interdependence with service maps
- Asset Life cycle analytics
- Plan data center migrations and technology refresh
- Plan change management
- Identify Business critical insights and services
All with popular Splunk dashboards and glass tables. This is a powerful application for Day 0 operations equally popular with practitioners and CxO’s.
CloudFabrix Unified Network Observability and Automation
With customers adopting the hybrid and AI infused applications, application stacks are increasingly becoming dynamic, complex and heterogeneous making it difficult to gain visibility and service assurance. Additionally these distributed applications traverse diverse networking deployments including campus, edge retail stores, WAN/SD-WAN and data centers. Networking has become the central block, which glues this all together. The stakes for an unified network observability and automation solution have never been higher, which becomes the central single pane of Ops across observability, security and networking siloed domains.
CloudFabrix’s Unified Network Observability and Automation solution specifically addresses these challenges. The solution targets enterprises, Network Operators and MSP’s, with the following key capabilities –
- Data Automation and Ingestion
- across disparate ITOM and Operational tools – ThousandEyes,Accedian Skylight, Prometheus, Telegraf, Zabbix, PRTG
- Direct to device data-types – MELT, OTEL, SNMP, syslogs, CLI, gRPC,, Bulkstats, APIs
- CMDBs as source and sinks
- Telemetry pipelines powered by Robotic Data Automation Fabric
- Telemetry pipelines aka Observability pipelines consolidate data silos across edge, hybrid and multi-cloud environments, eliminate data quality issues across data types and enrich data with context
- Telemetry pipelines also separate producers from consumers, leveraging existing tools, while receiving and send data to multiple sources in real time
- Real-time Unified visibility and Asset analytics – Application, Network and Infrastructure discovery – geo maps, path visualization and topology across multi-protocols – CDP, LLDP ,BGP, OSPF, L2 VPN, L3 VPN, SD WAN Tunnels
- Single pane of Ops across
- Multiple domains – Data Center, Campus, Retail/Branch, WAN & SDWAN, Mobility, Transport/Optical
- Multi-vendor switching – Cisco, HPE, Juniper, Vyatta, Fortinet, Palo Alto, VMware, Dell
- Multi-vendor domain controllers – Cisco NDFC/DCNM,DNAC, Meraki, vManage, VMWare VeloCloud
- Macaw GenAI assistant for Fault & Performance Management and Intent-based Automation for resilience and application experience. This is enabled by change impact analysis, X-domain correlation, root cause analysis and predictive Insights using local LLM and RAG implementation for GenAI and predictive remediation and intent-based automation
An Splunk ITSI content pack for Unified Network Observability and Automation is in works.
Unified Network Observability and Automation provide service assurance and service delivery for Telco Digital services
Unified Network Observability and Automation visualize topology, Geomaps and network end to end paths.
Unified Network Observability and Automation Go To Market
Cisco CX, IBM Consulting, Evolutio and GSI’s are CloudFabrix’s closest ecosystem partners. For customers who are existing Splunk-Cisco platform users, please talk to your respective consulting partners for a demo or proof of value with these applications. Here is a quote from one of our closest GSI partner, who is also a Splunk and Cisco reseller and partner Laura Vetter, Co-founder and CTO, Evolutio.
“Our clients will benefit from the CloudFabrix Unified Network Observability and Automation solution. They have been a leader in IT Asset Intelligence and AIOps, and they have developed powerful solutions that break down silos between data center, networking, infrastructure, and IT Operations. Now with CloudFabrix’s support of Splunk and ongoing support of Cisco, it continues to be relevant to our client base in Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Service Providers, and other business assurance use cases.”
said Laura Vetter, Co-founder, Evolutio
