Take the Dynatrace Podium Challenge! ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌👓‌

[Michal_Gebacki]

Welcome back, Dynatrace Community!

We're back with yet another exciting Dynatrace-oriented Community Challenge! This time the theme is utterly universal though. As you know, Dynatrace is full of various features making your observability experience flawless. And obviously, among many options, on everyone's shelf of tools there are always these that you value the most.

So, tell us in the comments below, what are your favorite Dynatrace features! Which are the most exciting? Which are the most essential to make your observability reliable every time, everywhere? Share your podium of Top 3 Dynatrace features and don't hesitate to shed some light on the background (why have you chosen these three particular features?). It might be extremely inspiring for others! 👀

Benefits of taking Community Challenges!

👉 Every participant receives a "Dynatrace Podium Badge"

👉 You will also get +100 bonus points for extra activity

👉 Engage with others and have fun!

[Mike_L]

I need to give Grail the gold medal as it is what unlocks almost everything else to be as good as it can be.

The silver medal for me goes to the app framework. The power to provide any answer based on the data in Grail is unique and a true enabler of billions of use cases.

As for the bronze, having been in extensions for so long I need to give it a medal instead of going with the more obvious ones such as Dynatrace Intelligence or the OneAgent. The ability to say "yes" to monitor anything is such a great feeling, and when combined with the Gold/Silver medalist, it provides an immeasurable value to so many companies.

[MaximilianoML]

🥇 Workflows - For me, they've such a great power and flexibility. Almost everything can be done with them!

🥈 Extensions - The capability of monitor everything is awesome, so deserve the silver medal!

🥉 Dynatrace Community - IDK if is it valid, but for me the main difference between the actual Observability tools is a community that you can count on to solve problems, share ideas and really be a part of a true community. So even if this is not a "True feature", deserves to be in the podium.  

[Theodore_x86]

Extensions would be my 4th option!

[MaximilianoML]

Interesting, why? For me the Extensions totally deserve the 2th place!

[Theodore_x86]

I think most people find it the loose end, but extensions save the day for lots of use cases.

[dannemca]

1 - Grail. This one is mandatory... Without grail, none of the new features will be possible. 

2 - Workflows. Started to play with workflows just recently, and indeed... it opens a new level of product capabilities... 

3 - OneAgent. This one can't be forgot.... whether by deploying in a host, or orchestrating with Operator. We don't need to worry on how the data will be collected, OneAgent do all the job for us.

[AntonioSousa]

This is an interesting challenge! It is a difficult one!

1. Gold: OneAgent
   Yes, I still have the last appmon manual. It had several thousand pages. OneAgent was the automation of that manual. Today, we have it for granted, but having seen what was before, and what still happens with some other solutions, without this, everything else would not be...
2. Silver: Extensibility
   Be it apps, EF2, or other approaches (eg. entities), the way that we can, in a fast way, extend Dynatrace to do other things is absolutely amazing!
3. Bronze: AI at the core
   Yes, when I started working with Dynatrace, I didn't value Davis. That changed a little at Perform 2020 🤣 But over the years, and especially in the last three years, for me it's ever more amazing that Dynatrace got this vision right more than a decade ago.

[Theodore_x86]

Hello!

1. OneAgent

             We all know why.

2. Multidimensional Analysis

             Cause you can find everything even you are not sure about topology.

3. (Holy) Grail

             "Searchin', seek and destroy."  💀💀

[AntonPineiro]

Hi,

1. OneAgent.
2. Davis.
3. DQL + Grail.

Best regards

[y_buccellato]

Ei people!

1. GRAIL
   My whole monitoring strategy relies on logs! Without this kinda of storage I couldn't have done it! (all Elastic people out there 😄 you need to try it)
2. OpenPipeline
   cannot live without it when you ingest incredible amount of logs that need re-processing pretty much in every single use case (one word: SAP)
3. DQL
   Follows consequentially and it stimulates my mind in so many ways!
   
   Honorable mentions!
4. Davis Anomaly Detection
   it has been vital for my alerting strategy in combination with all of the above and below!
5. Lookup Tables
   I have been playing with it and it bring so much value if play it right as a collaboration booster.

Dynatrace SaaS has been so much fun, not easy at all as it has once again shifted our minds in new fields that simple monitoring people weren't acquanted to, but very stimulating! I feel like an artists 😄

I'm not mentioning Oneagent altought I know how fundamental it was but in the long run I found that too many people were reling on its magic to extract monitoring value, forgetting that the real deep value is always in the knowledgable humans that have sweat on their system for years.

[dannemca]

Lookup tables indeed deserves an honor mention.

[AntonioSousa]

@StrangerThing , @y_buccellato , @dannemca ,

Sorry for not agreeing on this one 😥
Lookup Tables are a way forward, but a very basic one. It remembers me of the early 80s, where DNS didn't yet exist and ALL the hosts on the Internet existed in a unique hosts file, that was pulled from a central server every time someone needed to be sure they had the latest version. And then, through the hosts "lookup table" file, access to the Internet would happen (more info: 1 2 3 ). As this was so inefficient, several hacks appeared, like this one.

A very static, but similar, thing. The Internet and DNS and a lot of related stuff have come a long way since those static lookup host files. So, that's what lookup tables look to me at the moment. We need much more than that...

[StrangerThing]

Technologies evolve, as I'm sure features like this will. A basic solution was needed to solve a basic problem, at least for the time being. It was not easy to correlate the wonderful data we get in Dynatrace with external data, especially if that external data lives in some hard-to-get-to place. This very basic feature allows us to do that correlation with ease. I agree it is a step forward, but not a full solution for tying all your data together in Dynatrace. 

[AntonioSousa]

@StrangerThing ,
There's at least one vendor that I know of that has had the capability to query a live SQL database to do dynamic SQL lookup for every single log passing through, almost 10 years ago. And another that has been doing more advanced mapping than static lookup, for more than 15 years. We need much more.

[y_buccellato]

@AntonioSousa 

Sorry, I was still floating in the sky back in the 80s—that might explain why I’m so fond of this retro solution! For me it's Vintage 😎

Honestly, I get what you’re saying.
But when I work on monitoring requests, I notice a huge gap between the person making the request (with all their high level specification) and me.

One thing everyone does understand is: “put it in an Excel file and we’ll map it.” Excel—the universal language 😆 for IT and non-IT alike, the true tool that shifts left and right in the org.

Seen this way, a lookup table becomes super intuitive. You can capture something that only a team really understands and funnel it into a structure we can use.

Sure, they won’t know all the Dynatrace tricks in our toolkit—but if you channel their understanding into a lookup table, a good portion of the work is already done. They might not fully grasp advanced monitoring concepts, but they do understand a table they can use to customize what they see in Dynatrace.

So yeah, lookups might not be Ferrari engineering—but they’re easy to understand and collaborate on. And honestly, that’s worth a lot compared to all the other advanced features in the platform that most people just can’t intuitively use.

But ei at the end of the day let's see what will be on podium next year 😉

Regards

Yann

[AlexLarrieu]

Hello @y_buccellato ,
I don't know lookup table. Can you give me a document reference on this subject?

[y_buccellato]

Yes my friend this is the softcore blog post they made a while ago:

Enrich your Dynatrace data with the newly introduced lookup tables

This is the real deal document page you need to review to understand how you can exploit the feature to your benefit:

Lookup data in Grail — Dynatrace Docs


Just if you use Davis Anomaly Detection than remember to update the settings to allow DAD to also work with lookups, else your DAD will fail 🙂

[StrangerThing]

Here's a tips and tricks video that I did with @andreas_grabner 

Enrich Observability Data with Lookup Tables in Dynatrace | FreedomPay Demo

[t_pawlak]

Hi,

My Top 3 Dynatrace features (podium):

1. Grail (Dynatrace Data Lakehouse) – because it finally gives me one place for logs, metrics, traces and events, with fast search and correlation. Perfect for going from “question” to “answer” without switching tools.

2. DQL (Dynatrace Query Language) – because it gives me full control over analysis: from simple filtering to advanced correlations, aggregations, and custom views/alerts. For me, it’s the “truth language” in Dynatrace.

3. OneAgent + automatic instrumentation – because it’s the foundation of reliable observability: fast rollout, end-to-end coverage, less manual work, and consistent data every time.

!!!!!! Honorable mention: automation — Dynatrace Workflows, Configuration as Code (e.g., Terraform / Monaco / APIs) and operational automation. A real game-changer for me: less manual clicking, repeatability, consistent standards across environments, and faster, version-controlled changes with auditability !!!!!

[StrangerThing]

1. Workflows:  The ability to automate against your observability is MASSIVE. This opens the door to so many things, including the new agentic steps (in preview). By far my favorite feature to have in the same platform as all my observability data.

2. Lookup Tables:  Not that this was my idea or anything (it was), or that I gave an entire breakout session on this (I did), but having the ability to correlate the data already in Dynatrace with any custom data I want has changed the way we can use Dynatrace. Now it's open season for everyone. You don't need to know near as much about the data to start making sense of it. We can identify customers in real-time! 

3. OpenPipeline:  I have truly enjoyed having access to create many pipelines and routes to simplify, organize, and enrich the data we're constantly pumping into the Dynatrace platform. Whether it be parsing complex logs or creating custom metrics on spans, OpenPipeline has truly been a blessing.

[dannemca]

Thank you so much for the lookup table idea. It does really change the game.

[y_buccellato]

Yeah, thank you also on my behalf 😎.

I don't remember with which PM I talked but I was also proposing that 1 year back as I had to convert currency on the fly while data was passing trough pipeline (still they need to incorporate this).

Still lookup is experimental and they need to get full production and that is why I can only put as a mention.
Next year I'll put it first if I can make fireworks with it!
So much potential!! I love it. (I'm thinking about way to tags stuff, metada enrichment for entities, the business events black hole, we have like infinite use caseeeeeeee :') )

[StrangerThing]

My first follow-up after they implemented it was to get it into OpenPipeline so it doesn't always need to be used at query time. Still pushing for that.

[y_buccellato]

That was use case #1 since the beggining for me :') Then you know how we are as a species: give us a rock and we'll start drawing in caves, then cut the leather and so on and so forth.

Jokes aside, I used it in Davis Anomaly Detection. Very efficiant to enrich context in the description with new dims:

[Georgi_Vuldzhev]

Hi community,

My answer is probably based on my experience currently, but I would say:

First place: OneAgent - everything starts here

Second place: Davis - it reads the data for us and interprets it so we can further use it

Third place: Extensions - I think this gives us a lot of opportunities to ingest, interpret and visualize different metrics from different technologies. Some things would not be possible without them. I really like the idea and I am sure the variety will get bigger and bigger which is great.

I would also mention DQL + Grail as this has a huge imact on how we can use the data and we can achieve a lot with these. I haven't added them in my top 3 for the sole reason that I am not that experienced with them yet, as we moved to SaaS quite recently and I am used to working the "old way", but for sure investing some time and effor in this direction.

[tracegazer]

1. OneAgent: The foundation of everything. Deploy once, observe everything.
2. Grail & DQL: Grail changed the game for data exploration.
3. MCP Integration: This is where Dynatrace meets the AI revolution. The Dynatrace MCP Server enables seamless integration with AI agents and automation platforms.

Why these three? Together they form a complete observability lifecycle: OneAgent collects everything automatically, Grail/DQL lets you query and analyze that data powerfully, and MCP enables you to act on insights through AI-driven automation. 🚀

[carolosjk]

1. OneAgent and automatic instrumentation
   This is number one for me. You install OneAgent and it starts discovering services, applications and dependencies automatically. It saves a lot of setup time and effort, especially in big environments.

2. Extensions and custom extensions
   Extensions are definitely a great addon to the platform. There is one for most of my needs and personally I like that you can build your own extensions. Gets you back to some coding (maybe vibe-coding mostly these days) and can help you build a simple solution for many usecases.

3. Traces
   Tracing is very important in daily troubleshooting. It helps to see where a request is slow or failing across services and databases, while at the same time it is super cool to see the full end-to-end path that a requests follows throughout a whole infrustructure. While I hate troubleshooting, tracing is one of the most important tools out there!

[Romanenkov_Al3x]

1) Business Transactions in AppMon

It was incredible. You could attach a counter to any piece of code and report either count or timing. Exactly what you want. 

2) Custom analayzer on LUA for AMD for DC_RUM / NAM

I could even add monitoring for protocols that weren't supported natively. This feature was super cool, even if it was highly complex. But considering the possibilities and the zero impact on the app (being agentless), it was amazing.

3) Dyantrace Smartscape

It was a total game-changer. It was a seriously cool piece of tech, and the solution had a real 'wow factor.' It was a huge help and truly breakthrough for its time.

---

In all seriousness, every dynatrace tool and feature has its own merits, and you can't just pick one or three as the ultimate winner

😎

Regards,

Alekdsandr

[erh_inetum]

Hi,

1.- DQL+Grail: Thanks to these features, it's possible to extract information that wasn´t possible before.

2.- Business Events: Very powerful and it's not necessary creating lots of request attributes any more to get data. And large retention period.

3.- Workflows: Very useful to do lot of tasks: enable/disable integration, send alerts, integrations, etc.

And special mention for extensions which It's possible to monitor easily lot of different technologies.

Regards,

Elena

[Abidyaseen]

🥇OneAgent 

🥈Grail and AIOPS

🥉Extensions 

[Malaik]

Hello Dears

1. OneAgent

 with all its capabilities.

2. Multidimensional Analysis

3. Grail

still didnt use it in real env.

4. Extentions

             "Searchin', seek and destroy."

[ChadTurner]

This was a hard one, I've narrowed it down but had to add in a 4th place. 

#1 - The OneAgent - Which is the original recipe, the secret sauce. A single agent to pull all the metrics, logs and traces of the targeted host. Which is the backbone of monitoring, also the most billable segment. 

#2 - Grail - A single data lakehouse to hold all your metrics, logs, traces and overall data. All with the ability to associated retention longevities as your organization may need. The ability to query ANYTHING with robust queries. The marriage of RUM data in with all the other metric data allowing us to query ALL of the information we deem necessary for root cause identification as well as accurate performance reporting. Grail is also a major stepping stone for everything else, hence its ranking of #2. 

#3 - Dynatrace Intelligence - This bundles the OG - Davis, MCP, Copilot, DQL Copilot etc... (in my opinion) Dynatrace was the first to start 'AI' in the observability space granted it was metric value baselines, but it was the start of where we are now. With the MCP and Agentic AI, we are very excited to watch this further expand! 

Honorable Mention:
#4 - The Dynatrace Hub - Your gateway to the future, to full monitoring coverage. Where else can you go to find monitoring solutions, in a space that is forever growing. Early Access Programs/Apps, GA Releases for Apps, Niche monitoring and so much more. 
 

[AlexLarrieu]

My top 3.

1 - Distributed Traces - Essential for diagnosing our problems
2 - Dashboard - These reports allow us to summarize important data and maximize user adoption of the Dynatrace platform.

3 - Grail - A single data source simplifies all our DQL searches.

[Patrick_H]

For me it's the Notebooks - so simple and just so versatile.

[AravindhanV]

My Top 3 Dynatrace Features podium is ready, and trust me—this one comes with glitter, confetti, and pure observability joy! 🏆✨

🥇 Gold – Extensions 2.0
This one absolutely steals the crown for me. I spend so much time with extensions that I’m practically on a first-name basis with YAML files. Extensions are where I experiment, explore, and stretch Dynatrace’s capabilities into new territories. They’re my playground, my workshop, and yes… sometimes my puzzle of the day. But that’s exactly why they’re GOLD!

🥈 Silver – DQL
DQL deserves the silver because it’s the “funny but sensitive friend” of the Dynatrace ecosystem. One moment it’s giving you brilliant insights, and the next it’s reminding you that a tiny misplaced bracket can ruin your whole career. Still, when it works—oh, it really works. Pure magic! ✨

🥉 Bronze – User Experience
This feature is just colourful, lovely, and incredibly fun to explain. From RUM to session insights, it feels like storytelling with data. You get to follow the user's journey like a guided drama series—complete with surprises!

🏅 Special Jury Mention – Custom Apps
Still haven’t gotten my hands completely dirty here… but the temptation grows every day. Soon! 😄

Hope agree with my choice 🙂

[RohitBisht]

For me:
1. GRAIL, DQL - Unlocked a lot of use case we couldn't do and were restricted.
2. Dashboards - use of DQL, adding code and improved visualizations
3. Workflows - endless possibilities, love the JavaScript and free functionality

[Kenny_Gillette]

Top 5 Dynatrace Features I Can't Live Without:

1️⃣ OneAgent – If you used AppMon, you get it. Automatic instrumentation that just works.

2️⃣ Dashboards – Real-time, customizable insights across observability, business, and security data. Essential for data-driven decisions.

3️⃣ Davis AI – Deterministic and agentic AI delivering reliable root cause analysis and forecasting in complex environments.

4️⃣ Dynatrace Community – An amazing group of people always ready to help. This community makes all the difference.

5️⃣ Grail & DQL – Unified data lakehouse plus powerful query language = observability at any scale.

Bonus shoutout: Andi Grabner for his invaluable contributions and congrats on Employee of the Month! 👏
https://community.dynatrace.com/t5/Community-news/Member-of-the-Month-for-March-2026-Employee/ba-p/2...

[GerardJ]

Here's my top three :
1 - Grail & DQL : this opens up so many possibilities
2 - OneAgent : the easy-to-deploy all-in-one solution
3- Extensions & Custom Topology : so powerful, to extend infinitely

[Khejazi]

1- DQL

2- Grail

3- OneAgent

[DanielS]

🥇Grail & DQL The foundation of the new Dynatrace

🥈 Workflows A new way of doing lot of things under Dynatrace

🥉IA & MCP The future is coming... and Dynatrace is align

[lubrman]

1) Dynatrace as OP

2) Community

[wiwinleung]

1. Grail ,,, can store everything
2. DQL,,, can qeury everything on Grail
3. Workflow,,, can automate everything
... AI should be the next but I need time to explore!