New Relic Simplifies OpenTelemetry Adoption with Hybrid APM Agents and Infrastructure Monitoring

Event summary

  • New Relic launched innovations to simplify OpenTelemetry (OTel) adoption, including hybrid APM agents that embed OTel API compatibility.
  • Infra NRDOT, an OTel-based infrastructure monitoring solution, eliminates the need for proprietary agents or building OTel pipelines from scratch.
  • Collector Observability provides real-time visibility into OTel Collector health and performance.
  • The new capabilities are available to New Relic customers as of February 24, 2026.

The big picture

New Relic's innovations address the growing enterprise adoption of OpenTelemetry, which is now used in production by nearly half of organizations. The company aims to bridge the gap between proprietary agents and open standards, reducing the 'migration tax' associated with OTel adoption. This strategic move positions New Relic as a key player in the observability market, catering to enterprises seeking to modernize their telemetry stacks without operational disruptions.

What we're watching

Adoption Pace
The pace at which enterprises will migrate to OTel using New Relic's hybrid agents and infrastructure monitoring solutions.
Competitive Response
How competitors in the observability space will react to New Relic's OTel-focused innovations.
Cost Efficiency
Whether New Relic's Adaptive Telemetry Processor will significantly reduce data ingestion costs for customers.