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Move why OpenTelemetry up #3516

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53 changes: 28 additions & 25 deletions content/en/docs/what-is-opentelemetry.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -18,6 +18,34 @@ backends, including open source tools like
OpenTelemetry is a
[Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF)](https://www.cncf.io) project.

## Why OpenTelemetry?

With the rise of cloud computing, microservices architectures, and ever-more
complex business requirements, the need for
[Observability](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#what-is-observability) has
never been greater. Observability is the ability to understand the internal
state of a system by examining its outputs. In the context of software, this
means being able to understand the internal state of a system by examining its
telemetry data, which includes traces, metrics, and logs.

In order to make a system observable, it must be instrumented. That is, the code
must emit [traces](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#distributed-traces),
[metrics](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#reliability--metrics), and
[logs](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#logs). The instrumented data must
then be sent to an Observability backend.

OpenTelemetry does two important things:

1. Allows **you to own the data that you generate** rather than be stuck with a
proprietary data format or tool.
2. Allows you to learn a single set of APIs and conventions

These two things combined enables teams and organizations the flexibility they
need in today's modern computing world.

If you want to learn more, take a look at OpenTelemetry's
[mission, vision and values](/community/mission/).

## Major components

OpenTelemetry consists of the following major components:
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -66,31 +94,6 @@ extended include:
Although most users will not need to extend OpenTelemetry, the project is
designed to make it possible at nearly every level.

## Why OpenTelemetry?

With the rise of cloud computing, microservices architectures, and ever-more
complex business requirements, the need for
[Observability](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#what-is-observability) has
never been greater. Observability is the ability to understand the internal
state of a system by examining its outputs. In the context of software, this
means being able to understand the internal state of a system by examining its
telemetry data, which includes traces, metrics, and logs.

In order to make a system observable, it must be instrumented. That is, the code
must emit [traces](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#distributed-traces),
[metrics](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#reliability--metrics), and
[logs](/docs/concepts/observability-primer/#logs). The instrumented data must
then be sent to an Observability backend.

OpenTelemetry does two important things:

1. Allows **you to own the data that you generate** rather than be stuck with a
proprietary data format or tool.
2. Allows you to learn a single set of APIs and conventions

These two things combined enables teams and organizations the flexibility they
need in today's modern computing world.

### History

OpenTelemetry is the result of a merger between two prior projects,
Expand Down