3.2.2. Analyzing & Visualizing Operational Data

Collecting data is only half the equation — without analysis and visualization, you're sitting on a goldmine of information you can't use. Think of raw metrics like unread medical test results — the data exists, but until someone interprets it, the patient (your application) doesn't benefit. When an incident strikes at 3 AM, the difference between a 5-minute fix and a 5-hour outage often comes down to how quickly you can interpret your operational data.

This section covers how to transform raw metrics and logs into actionable intelligence using AWS analysis, alerting, and visualization services. Which tool do you reach for when you need anomaly detection vs. log forensics vs. executive dashboards?