LightStep comes out of stealth and formally introduces its first product, LightStep [x]PM.
LightStep [x]PM is a performance management solution applying APM's core value proposition -- monitoring and troubleshooting performance issues -- across all components of today's software applications: web and mobile clients, monoliths, microservices, both on premises and in the cloud.
LightStep gives an accurate, detailed snapshot across the entire complex software system at any given point in time, enabling organizations to identify bottlenecks and resolve incidents rapidly.
LightStep [x]PM offers a decentralized architecture that continuously analyzes 100% of transactions across all services, in production. This lets customers measure performance wherever it impacts their business: distinct microservices, key mobile transitions, crucial customer accounts, or individual end-users. When LightStep [x]PM's statistical engine detects an anomaly, it replays and records a detailed end-to-end trace. This trace provides the cross-service context needed to resolve an incident or identify a performance problem.
LightStep [x]PM customers take seconds or minutes to resolve incidents that previously required days of ongoing, multi-team firefighting. The product has led to performance improvements in key end-user experiences for both web and mobile.
There are many ways to integrate with LightStep [x]PM, and customers combine them to gain full coverage of their software systems:
- Native integration with OpenTracing, a CNCF member project and open API standard co-created by Ben Sigelman, CEO and co-founder of LightStep, and others in the OSS tracing community
- Existing centralized logging data from many sources
- Service mesh technologies and load-balancers like Envoy, linkerd, nginx, haproxy and others
"I have seen software development change rapidly in the last decade, and I believe we are entering a new era," said Ben Sigelman, co-founder and CEO at LightStep. "Today, enterprise IT and engineering leaders preside over complex, business-critical software applications that operate at a daunting scale. We built LightStep to deliver products, beginning with LightStep [x]PM, that cut through the complexity of today's production software and keep our customers in control."
Sigelman is an expert in performance analysis and debugging in large software systems. He designed and deployed global-scale monitoring technologies at Google, including Dapper, an always-on distributed tracing system which analyzes more than 2 billion transactions per second.
LightStep also raised $29 million in funding. The Series A round of $7.5 million was led by Redpoint; the Series B round of $20 million was led by Sequoia. Seed investors Cowboy Ventures and Harrison Metal participated in both rounds. LightStep will use the funding to accelerate product development and meet growing market demand.
The Latest
According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...
Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...
IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...
Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...
In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ...
In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...
In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...
In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...
In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...
From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...