Add blog post for OTel Collector Survey (open-telemetry#4409)

content/en/blog/2024/otel-collector-survey/index.md

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+---
+title: Insights from the OpenTelemetry Collector Survey
+linkTitle: OpenTelemetry Collector Survey
+date: 2024-05-08
+author: '[Hope Oluwalolope](https://github.com/iamebonyhope) (Microsoft)'
+# prettier-ignore
+cSpell:ignore: attributesprocessor basicauthextension batchprocessor bearertokenauthextension clientauthextension countconnector customizability datadogconnector debugexporter distros filelogreceiver filterprocessor healthcheckextension hostmetricsreceiver k8sattributesprocessor lokiexporter memorylimiterprocessor Oluwalolope otlpexporter otlpreceiver Pprof pprofextension prometheusexporter prometheusreceiver prometheusremotewriteexporter routingconnector sclusterreceiver Servicegraph servicegraphconnector spanmetricsconnector
+---
+
+The [OpenTelemetry (OTel) Collector](/docs/collector/) has become a cornerstone
+tool for observing and monitoring modern software applications. Recently, the
+End User SIG conducted a survey to gather feedback from users about their
+experiences with the OTel Collector. While we acknowledge that the 186 responses
+we received may not be statistically significant, they represent a great start
+and provide valuable insights. These insights include details about users’
+deployment practices and implementation challenges, which are instrumental in
+helping to drive the OTel Collector’s future direction.
+
+## Key Takeaways
+
+- Companies typically have medium to large collector deployments:
+  - \>5 Collectors: 125/186
+  - \>10 Collectors: 100/186
+- Building custom binaries/distributions of the Collector is more popular than
+  expected (61/186), with most people using the
+  [OTel Collector Builder](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-builder)
+  to do so (49/61)
+- The vast majority deploy the Collector on Kubernetes (150/186)
+- There's more desire for stability (59), self-observability (53), and config
+  management (59), than for new components (14)
+
+## Detailed Insights
+
+### Deployment Scale and Environment
+
+Our findings indicate robust use of the OTel Collector at scale, with
+53.8%(100/186) of respondents deploying more than 10 collectors, 13.4%(25/186)
+running between 5 and 10 collectors, and 22%(41/186) running between 2 and 5
+collectors.
+
+![Chart showing how many otel collectors people run in their organization](deployment-scale.png)
+
+Kubernetes is the leading platform for Collector deployment (80.6%), followed by
+virtual machines (33.3%) and bare metal (10.8%).
+
+![Chart showing where people deploy their otel collectors](deployment-environment.png)
+
+### Usage Scenarios
+
+The OTel Collector is primarily used as a gateway (64.5%), demonstrating its
+pivotal role in aggregating telemetry data from various sources. Daemonsets
+(51.6%) and sidecars (23.7%) are also popular deployment models, showcasing the
+flexibility of the OTel Collector in different operational contexts.
+
+![Chart showing the usage scenarios of the otel collector](usage-scenarios.png)
+
+### Customization and Configuration
+
+A surprising number of people build their own distributions of the Collector
+(61/186), indicating that providing a composable Collector is important for the
+community. Most people who do build their own Collector distros use the
+[OTel Collector Builder (OCB)](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-builder)
+(49/61). Of the 49 respondents who leverage the OCB, most were able to figure it
+out, with only 2 respondents stating that it’s too hard to use.
+
+![Chart showing how easy people find it to use the otel collector builder](ocb-usage.png)
+
+### Monitoring and Observability
+
+When it comes to monitoring the Collectors, a vast majority of respondents rely
+on Collector metrics and logs (81.7%), and only a few don't monitor their
+Collector(s) at all (16.6%). When we peered deeper into the data, we found that
+of the 125 respondents with more than 5 Collectors, only 15 are not monitoring
+their Collectors, and of the 100 respondents with more than 10 Collectors, only
+9 are not monitoring their Collectors. This seems to indicate that users take
+monitoring their Collectors seriously once they reach a certain maturity with
+their Collector deployments.
+
+![Chart showing how people monitor their otel collector](monitoring.png)
+
+### OTel Components Usage
+
+The OTel Collector's flexibility is vividly illustrated by the wide array of
+exporters, receivers, processors, connectors, and extensions that are used
+across various environments. This highlights the Collector's capability to
+integrate with a vast range of tools and systems.
+
+The top components according to our survey results are as follows:
+
+### Exporters
+
+1. [otlpexporter](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/exporter/otlpexporter)
+2. [prometheusremotewriteexporter](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/exporter/prometheusremotewriteexporter/README.md)
+3. [prometheusexporter](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/exporter/prometheusexporter/README.md)
+4. [lokiexporter](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/exporter/lokiexporter/README.md)
+5. [debugexporter](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/exporter/debugexporter)
+
+### Receivers
+
+1. [otlpreceiver](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/receiver/otlpreceiver)
+2. [prometheusreceiver](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/receiver/prometheusreceiver/README.md)
+3. [filelogreceiver](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/receiver/filelogreceiver)
+4. [hostmetricsreceiver](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/receiver/hostmetricsreceiver/README.md)
+5. [k8sclusterreceiver](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/receiver/k8sclusterreceiver/README.md)
+
+### Processors
+
+1. [batchprocessor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/processor/batchprocessor)
+2. [attributesprocessor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/processor/attributesprocessor/README.md)
+3. [filterprocessor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/processor/filterprocessor/README.md)
+4. [memorylimiterprocessor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/processor/memorylimiterprocessor)
+5. [k8sattributesprocessor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/processor/k8sattributesprocessor/README.md)
+
+### Connectors
+
+1. [spanmetricsconnector](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/spanmetricsprocessor/README.md)
+2. [servicegraphconnector](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/servicegraphprocessor/README.md)
+3. [routingconnector](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/processor/routingprocessor/README.md)
+4. [countconnector](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/countprocessor/README.md)
+5. [datadogconnector](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/exporter/datadogexporter/README.md)
+
+### Extensions
+
+1. [healthcheckextension](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/healthcheckextension/README.md)
+2. [basicauthextension](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/basicauthextension/README.md)
+3. [pprofextension](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/pprofextension/README.md)
+4. [bearertokenauthextension](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/bearertokenauthextension/README.md)
+5. [oauth2clientauthextension](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/blob/main/extension/oauth2clientauthextension/README.md)
+
+<br/>
+
+For a more detailed look at the specific exporters, receivers, processors,
+connectors, and extensions in use, you can check out the
+[raw results](https://github.com/open-telemetry/sig-end-user/blob/main/end-user-surveys/otel-collector/otel-collector-survey.csv).
+The data provides a clear view of the popular choices within the community as
+well as the niche configurations that exemplify the customizability of the OTel
+Collector.
+
+### Areas for Improvement
+
+Respondents were clear about their desire for enhancements in stability (30.6%),
+configuration management and resolution (30.1%), and self-observability (28%),
+versus wanting new components (<8%)
+
+![Chart showing interested areas of improvement for the otel collector](areas-of-improvement.png)
+
+The
+[OTel Collector survey results](https://github.com/open-telemetry/sig-end-user/blob/main/end-user-surveys/otel-collector/otel-collector-survey.csv)
+offer a snapshot of the current state of Collector deployment and utilization.
+It's evident that while the OTel Collector is widely adopted and highly
+customizable, there are also opportunities to make it more user-friendly and
+robust.
+
+## Keep in touch
+
+Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey! We rely on your feedback to
+help guide the future development of OpenTelemetry and to ensure it continues to
+meet your evolving needs.
+
+We will post upcoming surveys in the following avenues:
+[#otel-sig-end-user Slack channel](https://cloud-native.slack.com/archives/C01RT3MSWGZ)
+– you can also reach out to us here!
+[End user resources page](/community/end-user/)

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