OpenTelemetry makes observability simple—add an agent and instantly see every service interaction. But this ease creates a hidden trap: teams instrument everything without considering the cost impact, leading to observability bills that consume 10-30% of infrastructure budgets. This talk exposes the real cost crisis behind modern telemetry data. We’ll examine actual cases where companies faced million-dollar annual monitoring bills, break down why high-cardinality metrics create exponential cost growth, and show proven techniques to cut expenses by 60-90% while maintaining full visibility. Through live demonstrations with real production scenarios, you’ll see how simple configuration mistakes create massive data volumes, then learn practical solutions: smart sampling that captures 100% of errors while reducing normal traffic by 95%, edge filtering that stops expensive data before it hits backends, and retention strategies that slash storage costs 60-80%. This isn’t about avoiding OpenTelemetry—it’s about using it smartly. You’ll gain actionable frameworks for cost-controlled implementation, team accountability models, and monitoring tools to prevent bill shock. Leave with battle-tested strategies from companies handling massive scale while controlling costs, plus a practical toolkit for cost-effective observability that finance teams will approve.

Mukta has survived 22 years of production outages, 3 startup exits and somehow still thinks observability is fun. She currently helps Last9 customers implement their Observability needs while keeping their sanity intact.