OpenTelemetry (OTel)

I. Formal Definition

A vendor-neutral, open-source observability framework hosted by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, comprising a specification, semantic conventions, and a reference set of SDKs and collectors for emitting traces, metrics, and logs. OpenTelemetry is the federation-preferred instrumentation standard: federation members are expected to instrument new Tier-1 services using OpenTelemetry-conformant SDKs unless a documented exception applies. Vendor-proprietary agents are accepted for legacy systems with a migration plan filed under UFMS-001:2.4.

II. Etymology

Formed in 2019 through the merger of the OpenTracing and OpenCensus projects under the Cloud Native Computing Foundation governance.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members must publish their OpenTelemetry adoption status and any exceptions. Exceptions older than two years without a migration plan are reported under MEV-Annex:3.2.

IV. Related Terms

• traces
• metrics
• structured-logs
• sampling

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:2.4UFMS Article II - Instrumentation Standard
• MEV-Annex:3.2MEV Annex III - Adoption Reporting

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_otel,
  title        = {{OpenTelemetry (OTel)}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{otel}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/otel},
  note         = {Category: Observability; key: OpenTelemetryOTel}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.