What Are the Latest Trends in Cloud Traffic Observability?

New research from EMA provides best practices to empower network and security operations in the hybrid, multicloud era.

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Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) has published its 2025 “Cloud Network Traffic Data: Empowering Network and Security Operations in the Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Era” report authored by Shamus McGillicuddy, vice president of research for network infrastructure and operations at EMA.

Need for Data to Monitor, Troubleshoot, and Optimize Cloud Networks

It is worth noting that this latest research is a follow-up to EMA’s April 2025 study, “Enterprise Strategies for Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Networks,” where it was revealed that 49 percent of IT professionals in hybrid, multicloud environments view network flow data as critical for monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing their cloud networks. And another 38 percent identified packet data as equally important. An interesting revelation in this study was that only 29 percent of the respondents reported being fully satisfied with their current monitoring tools. These findings highlighted the need for enterprises to reconsider and focus on the way they gather and analyze network traffic across their cloud infrastructures.

To help network and security operations facing observability challenges in their hybrid, multicloud environments, EMA conducted new research focused on how enterprise IT organizations collect, store, and analyze network traffic data within public cloud environments. Part of this research investigates the methods organizations use to manage both packet and flow data in the cloud. For this study, EMA surveyed 250 IT and security professionals, based in North America, who are directly responsible for the tools and processes their organizations use to access and analyze cloud network traffic.

Value of Network Traffic Data in Public Cloud Environments

The report highlights why network traffic data is critical in public cloud environments, examining its role in improving performance, security, and observability. It also explores how organizations leverage packet and flow data in the cloud. Key findings include:

  • How effective the respondents felt their organizations are in collecting and analyzing cloud network traffic
  • The top benefits of analyzing cloud network traffic
  • Expectations on the rising importance of packet data to cloud network operations and cloud security operations in the next two years
  • Top challenges facing organizations when it comes to collecting and analyzing packet data in the public cloud
  • Use cases for ITOps and SecOps using cloud packet data

There is much more to be found in this research report for network and security teams as they endeavor to gain clear visibility into their public cloud environments. Learn more from the “Cloud Network Traffic Data: Empowering Network and Security Operations in the Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Era” report with ideas and best practices for how teams can go beyond metrics, logs, and traces to gain deeper insight from network traffic data, including both packets and flows.

Get EMA’s 2025 report “Cloud Network Traffic Data: Empowering Network and Security Operations in the Hybrid, Multi-Cloud Era” to learn how packets and flows deliver deeper insight than metrics, logs, and traces.