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Ways to Use Mock Services in Software Development

Mocking APIs is a popular practice in software development. An increasing number of developers are reaping the benefits and no longer using their valuable time to spin up duplicate resources. Many mock services do not require account creation, making them easy to use and privacy-friendly. In the rest of this article, we explain what mock APIs are, when you should think about using them, and what solutions are available within the open-source and proprietary markets.

Getting transparency on hidden Azure Function Integrations

Recently we released a new feature for Business Activity Monitoring and one of our customers was able to get almost immediate value from this feature with an integration use case they were struggling to support. The solution implemented involves the source data coming from various operational technology systems that push data to an event hub.

A Look at Labor: How to Make the Ongoing "Manufacturing Skills and Labor Challenge" a Non-Issue

Depending on where you are in the world, you may be hearing conflicting reports about the current state (and future) of the manufacturing workforce. For example, here in the U.S., some leaders are touting the creation of hundreds of thousands of new manufacturing jobs as a signal of improving economic health. However, this good news is counterbalanced by a stark truth: millions of manufacturing jobs are likely to go unfilled in the next 5-6 years in the country.

The 2024 Guide to Open Source Status Page Providers

Maintaining transparent communication about service availability is crucial for businesses of all sizes. Status pages are an important part of your communication strategy during times of outages and maintenance events. You can choose to go with a fully managed status page provider, or host an open-source one yourself. Open source status page providers offer a cost-effective and customizable solution. However, then can come with their own drawbacks.

What are Long Animation Frames (LoAF)

A Long Animation Frame, often called a LoAF, occurs when your website’s animations take too long to render, slowing down interactions and making your site feel “frozen” or “janky.” And yes, it’s hilarious that it sounds like a loaf of bread—so get ready for plenty of bread, butter, and toasting puns! You might be thinking, “I’m building an online store (or whatever), what do I care about animations? I’m not talking about cartoons.

AI Cybersecurity Best Practices: Meeting a Double-Edged Challenge

Artificial intelligence is already showing its potential to reshape nearly every aspect of cybersecurity – for good and bad. If anything represents the proverbial double-edged sword, it might be AI: It can act as a formidable tool in creating robust cybersecurity defenses or can dangerously compromise them if weaponized.

What are SLOs/SLIs/SLAs?

You’ve likely noticed how some pizza places promise delivery in 30 minutes, or they’ll give you your money back. But what are they really promising? They’re setting a clear performance goal and backing it up with confidence. How do they measure their performance? They track how long each delivery takes. And why do they make this promise? Because fast service is key to keeping their business thriving.

4 elements of AI copilots for incident management

Generative AI has immense potential to transform how IT operations, service management, and infrastructure teams function. However, integrating GenAI technologies, like copilots, often brings significant challenges, such as ensuring accuracy, addressing job displacement concerns, and demonstrating tangible value. Navigating the landscape of various vendors and implementation hurdles can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.

Top 10 Kafka Configuration Tweaks for Better Performance

Kafka is great for handling data at scale, but to get the most out of it, you need to do a little fine-tuning. Think of it like having a high-performance car—yeah, it runs out of the box, but a few tweaks under the hood can really make it fly. Whether you’re looking to boost throughput, reduce lag, or just keep things humming smoothly, these Kafka configuration tweaks are your go-to guide for better performance. Ready to get hands-on?