Unlocking peak Kubernetes performance and cost efficiency with IBM Instana powered by IBM Kubecost

Kubernetes has become the backbone of application changes and deployment. Enterprises invest in Kubernetes to build applications that are scalable with high deployment frequency to help meet the dynamic needs of the business.

According to IDC¹, the ubiquity and scale of adoption that Kubernetes enjoys will continue to grow exponentially, due especially to trends like increased deployment of containerized AI/ML workloads, which will increase the number of applications that the typical business hosts using Kubernetes. However, the complexity of tracking spend with Kubernetes usage is incredibly difficult.

To overcome this complexity, IT and FinOps teams want solutions that can monitor Kubernetes clusters to track uptime, resources and the interaction between components. The ideal solution provides a unified view of Kubernetes clusters, associated services and the infrastructure health and cost through a single observability solution.

In response to solving this complex spend and observability issue, we are announcing a new cost monitoring feature within IBM Instana powered by IBM Kubecost, that provides application performance and Kubernetes cost data in one place.

With access to Kubernetes cost insights within the Instana interface, users can now perform cost monitoring for Kubernetes clusters, using pre-built, out-of-the-box dashboards and automated analysis of historical spend.

Businesses can now unlock peak performance and cost efficiency by overcoming challenges related to application resiliency and reliability, which stem from both over-provisioning and under-provisioning of resources.

1. Spend and trend analysis: Users can see historical spend and trend analysis to understand misconfigurations and their performance impacts. Using this information users can forecast cost spend with more confidence.
2. Proactive notifications on cost: Users can configure timely alerts about resource usage patterns, with direct links to the related performance data. These alerts help with faster contextual decision making on cost spend.
3. Cost optimization decisions: Users can view namespace and deployment level cost breakdowns alongside idle costs, to discover resource optimization opportunities and improve efficiency.

Instana cost monitoring, paired with the automated resource optimization feature powered by IBM Turbonomic, now provides observability, cost insights and automated resource optimization for Kubernetes in a single platform. By helping businesses achieve peak application performance while reducing cost wastage, we are building the most comprehensive observability platform deployable on SaaS, self-hosted or hybrid environment.

IBM Instana was recently named CRN’s Product of the Year for observability² and also won the Best IT Infrastructure Software Products award by G2 in 2025.

Learn more about Instana cost monitoring

¹ IDC PlanScape: Kubernetes Cost Management. September 2024. Doc #US51833124

² CRN’s 2024 Products Of The Year