Solved: Best OpsGenie alternatives? sunset is forcing migration, 50-person eng team

Navigating the unexpected sunset of a critical tool like OpsGenie can be daunting for a 50-person engineering team. This guide explores leading alternatives—PagerDuty, Splunk On-Call, and Grafana OnCall—providing detailed insights, practical examples, and a comparative analysis to facilitate a smooth migration.

The sudden announcement of a platform’s sunset, especially one as integral to incident management as OpsGenie, can send ripples of concern through any engineering organization. For a 50-person team, this isn’t just about finding a replacement; it’s about preserving operational continuity, maintaining robust on-call schedules, ensuring timely incident response, and seamlessly integrating with an existing ecosystem of monitoring, logging, and communication tools. The pressure to migrate quickly without disrupting service delivery adds another layer of complexity.

The Challenge: OpsGenie Sunset and Migration Headaches

A forced migration under a deadline often surfaces a range of challenges that extend beyond mere feature replacement. Understanding these symptoms is the first step toward a successful transition.

Symptoms of a Forced Migration

• Loss of Critical Functionality: The immediate concern is the interruption of on-call rotations, alert routing, and incident communication workflows that OpsGenie currently handles.
• Urgent Timeline: Sunsets rarely come with years of notice, creating a compressed timeline for evaluation, selection, migration, and training.
• Feature Parity Requirements: Teams often seek a replacement that matches or exceeds OpsGenie’s capabilities, including sophisticated escalation policies, multi-channel notifications, and extensive integrations.
• Cost Sensitivity: New solutions come with new pricing models, necessitating careful budget considerations and justification.
• Integration Overload: Replicating integrations with dozens of monitoring tools (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog), logging platforms (ELK, Splunk), and communication tools (Slack, Teams) is a significant undertaking.
• User Adoption and Training: A new tool means a new UI, new workflows, and a learning curve for every engineer, potentially impacting incident response times initially.
• Data Migration Complexity: Transferring existing on-call schedules, escalation policies, and past incident data (if desired) can be non-trivial.

Solution 1: PagerDuty – The Industry Standard

PagerDuty is often considered the gold standard for incident management, offering a mature, robust platform with extensive capabilities for on-call scheduling, incident routing, and sophisticated automation.

Overview and Key Features

PagerDuty excels in its ability to centralize alerts from virtually any source, apply intelligent routing based on services and urgency, and ensure incidents reach the right person at the right time. Its key strengths include:

• Advanced On-Call Scheduling: Complex rotations, overrides, and handoffs.
• Rich Escalation Policies: Multi-step, multi-channel notifications until acknowledgement.
• Extensive Integrations: Hundreds of out-of-the-box integrations, plus a powerful API.
• Incident Response Automation: Runbooks, automated actions, and post-incident analysis tools.
• Analytics and Reporting: Detailed metrics on incident frequency, resolution times, and team performance.

Migration Considerations

Migrating to PagerDuty typically involves recreating your on-call schedules, escalation policies, and integrating your monitoring tools. PagerDuty’s API is robust, allowing for significant automation. For bulk operations, scripting is often leveraged. Data migration for historical incidents might be possible via API but often isn’t a top priority during a forced migration.

Example Configuration: Integrating with Prometheus Alertmanager

Connecting Prometheus Alertmanager to PagerDuty is a common pattern. Alertmanager uses a webhook to send alerts to PagerDuty’s Events API.

# alertmanager.yml configuration snippet
route:
  receiver: 'default-pagerduty'

receivers:
- name: 'default-pagerduty'
  pagerduty_configs:
  - service_key: 'YOUR_PAGERDUTY_INTEGRATION_KEY' # This key is generated in PagerDuty for a specific service.
    severity: '{{ .CommonLabels.severity | title }}'
    details:
      instance: '{{ .CommonLabels.instance }}'
      alertname: '{{ .CommonLabels.alertname }}'
      description: '{{ .CommonAnnotations.description }}'
      summary: '{{ .CommonAnnotations.summary }}'
    group: '{{ .CommonLabels.alertname }}'
    class: '{{ .CommonLabels.job }}'
    component: '{{ .CommonLabels.component }}'
    # Optional: Customize the client and client_url
    client: 'Prometheus Alertmanager'
    client_url: 'http://alertmanager.example.com'

In PagerDuty, you would create a “service” and add a “Prometheus” integration. This will generate the YOUR\_PAGERDUTY\_INTEGRATION\_KEY needed above. Then, assign this service to an escalation policy and an on-call schedule.

Pros and Cons

• Pros:
  • Industry leader with a proven track record.
  • Highly customizable and scalable for large teams and complex needs.
  • Extensive feature set, including AIOps and advanced analytics.
  • Robust API for automation and custom integrations.
• Cons:
  • Can be more expensive, especially for advanced plans.
  • Steeper learning curve due to feature richness.
  • UI can feel complex for new users.

Solution 2: Splunk On-Call (formerly VictorOps) – The Incident Hub

Splunk On-Call, previously VictorOps, positions itself as a real-time incident management platform focused on the entire incident lifecycle, emphasizing collaboration and communication across the engineering team.

Overview and Key Features

Splunk On-Call offers a visual timeline of incidents, rich chat integrations, and a focus on accelerating response through shared context and streamlined communication. Its highlights include:

• Real-time Incident Timeline: A comprehensive view of all incident activity, from alert to resolution.
• ChatOps Integration: Deep integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams for real-time collaboration.
• Transmogrifier: A powerful rules engine to transform, enrich, and deduplicate alerts.
• On-Call Scheduling and Escalations: Flexible scheduling and escalation policies.
• Runbook Automation: Automated actions and incident playbooks.
• Post-Incident Analysis: Tools for retrospective and continuous improvement.

Migration Considerations

Similar to PagerDuty, migration involves setting up on-call schedules, escalation policies, and integrating existing monitoring tools. Splunk On-Call provides a “Generic API” and email integration that are highly versatile. The “Transmogrifier” can be invaluable for normalizing incoming alerts from diverse sources during migration.

Example Configuration: Sending Alerts via Generic API

Splunk On-Call’s Generic REST Endpoint allows you to send incident data from almost any source. You’ll typically find this endpoint in your Integrations section.

# Example using curl to send a critical alert to Splunk On-Call's Generic REST Endpoint
# Replace YOUR_ROUTING_KEY with the key found in your Splunk On-Call integrations setup.
# The routing key determines which team/service receives the alert.

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "message_type": "CRITICAL",
  "entity_id": "server-001/cpu_usage",
  "state_message": "CPU usage on server-001 is 95% for 5 minutes",
  "monitoring_tool": "Custom Monitor",
  "host": "server-001",
  "description": "High CPU utilization detected.",
  "check": "cpu_usage",
  "alert_url": "http://dashboard.example.com/server-001"
}' "https://alert.victorops.com/integrations/generic/20131114/alert/YOUR_ROUTING_KEY"

# For a recovery message, change message_type to "RECOVERY"
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{
  "message_type": "RECOVERY",
  "entity_id": "server-001/cpu_usage",
  "state_message": "CPU usage on server-001 has returned to normal (30%)",
  "monitoring_tool": "Custom Monitor",
  "host": "server-001",
  "description": "High CPU utilization resolved.",
  "check": "cpu_usage"
}' "https://alert.victorops.com/integrations/generic/20131114/alert/YOUR_ROUTING_KEY"

This flexibility makes it easy to integrate with custom scripts or older monitoring systems that might not have native integrations for other platforms.

Pros and Cons

• Pros:
  • Excellent for real-time incident communication and collaboration.
  • Transmogrifier offers powerful alert processing and normalization.
  • Strong focus on the full incident lifecycle.
  • Good balance of features and ease of use.
• Cons:
  • Can be more expensive than some alternatives, especially for advanced features.
  • UI might feel less polished than PagerDuty for some users.
  • Integration ecosystem, while robust, might not be as vast as PagerDuty’s.

Solution 3: Grafana OnCall – The Integrated Open-Source Friendly Option

Grafana OnCall is a relatively newer entrant but is rapidly gaining traction, especially among teams already heavily invested in Grafana for monitoring and observability. It offers integrated on-call management directly within the Grafana ecosystem.

Overview and Key Features

Grafana OnCall brings incident routing, on-call scheduling, and escalation policies into Grafana Cloud and Grafana Enterprise. Its primary appeal is its tight integration with Grafana Alerting and its open-source friendly approach.

• Native Grafana Integration: Seamlessly connects with Grafana Alerting, dashboards, and data sources.
• On-Call Schedules & Escalation Chains: Intuitive setup for complex rotations and notification paths.
• Alert Groups: Automatically group related alerts to reduce noise.
• ChatOps Integrations: Connects with Slack, Microsoft Teams for incident communication.
• Public API: For automation and custom integrations.
• Open-Source Core (for self-hosting): While there’s a managed Grafana Cloud offering, an open-source version allows for self-hosting.

Migration Considerations

For teams already using Grafana for monitoring, the migration path is significantly streamlined. You’ll primarily focus on defining your on-call schedules, creating escalation chains, and then configuring Grafana Alerting contact points to send notifications to Grafana OnCall. Data import might require leveraging the API for schedules if they are very complex.

Example Configuration: Setting up a Basic On-Call Group and Alert Route

Assuming you are using Grafana Alerting:

1. Create an On-Call Team: In Grafana OnCall, create a team (e.g., “SRE Team”).
2. Define Users and Schedules: Add engineers to the team and set up an on-call schedule (e.g., weekly rotation).
3. Create an Escalation Chain: Define how alerts escalate (e.g., notify current on-call, then team lead, then entire team via Slack).
4. Configure a Grafana Alerting Contact Point: Link Grafana Alerting to your OnCall integration.

# Conceptual steps in Grafana UI or via Terraform for Grafana Alerting

# 1. Create OnCall User Group in Grafana OnCall (UI)
#    - Group Name: "Primary SRE On-Call"
#    - Add Members: UserA, UserB, UserC
#    - Define Weekly Rotation Schedule

# 2. Create Escalation Chain in Grafana OnCall (UI)
#    - Chain Name: "Critical SRE Escalation"
#    - Step 1: Notify "Primary SRE On-Call" via Mobile App, SMS (after 0 min)
#    - Step 2: Notify "Primary SRE On-Call" via Phone Call (after 5 min)
#    - Step 3: Notify "SRE Managers" (another OnCall group) via Slack (after 10 min)

# 3. Create a Contact Point in Grafana Alerting (UI or Terraform)
#    - Name: "OnCall SRE Critical"
#    - Type: "Grafana OnCall"
#    - OnCall URL: (auto-populated if using Grafana Cloud/Enterprise)
#    - Select Escalation Chain: "Critical SRE Escalation"

# 4. Attach to a Notification Policy for an Alert Rule
#    - In a Grafana Alert Rule (e.g., "High CPU Usage")
#    - Set "Contact Point" to "OnCall SRE Critical"

# Terraform example for a Grafana Alerting Contact Point (conceptual)
resource "grafana_contact_point" "oncall_sre_critical" {
  name = "OnCall SRE Critical"
  grafana_managed_alert {
    type = "oncall"
    settings = {
      escalation_id = grafana_oncall_escalation.critical_sre.id # Reference your OnCall escalation
      # Other settings like message templates, etc.
    }
  }
}

resource "grafana_oncall_escalation" "critical_sre" {
  name = "Critical SRE Escalation"
  # ... steps defined here ...
}

This tight integration ensures that alerts created in Grafana flow directly into the OnCall system, leveraging all the defined schedules and escalation paths.

Pros and Cons

• Pros:
  • Deep integration with Grafana ecosystem, ideal for existing Grafana users.
  • Cost-effective if already using Grafana Cloud/Enterprise.
  • Clean, modern UI and user experience.
  • Open-source option for full control and self-hosting.
• Cons:
  • Less mature than PagerDuty or Splunk On-Call in terms of advanced features (e.g., AIOps).
  • May require more manual setup for non-Grafana monitoring sources compared to others.
  • Managed service (Grafana Cloud) might have different pricing tiers to consider.

Comparative Analysis: PagerDuty vs. Splunk On-Call vs. Grafana OnCall

To help you weigh your options, here’s a comparative overview of the three solutions:

Feature/Criterion	PagerDuty	Splunk On-Call	Grafana OnCall
Primary Focus	Enterprise-grade incident management, automation, AIOps.	Real-time incident response, collaboration, full incident lifecycle.	Integrated on-call management within the Grafana ecosystem.
On-Call Scheduling	Highly advanced, flexible, complex rotations.	Robust, user-friendly, good for medium-complex needs.	Intuitive, growing feature set, good for standard rotations.
Escalation Policies	Extremely powerful, multi-step, multi-channel.	Flexible, includes Transmogrifier for alert routing.	Straightforward, covers most common scenarios.
Integrations	Vastest ecosystem, hundreds of direct integrations, robust API.	Strong, good for ChatOps, Generic API highly versatile.	Native Grafana, growing list of direct integrations, API.
Collaboration	Conference bridging, status updates, limited in-tool chat.	Excellent, deep Slack/Teams integration, incident timeline.	Good with Slack/Teams, integrated with Grafana’s UI.
Automation	Runbooks, event intelligence, AIOps features.	Transmogrifier, workflow automation, auto-remediation actions.	Integrates with Grafana Alerting for automated actions.
Pricing Model	Per-user, tiered plans, can be premium.	Per-user, tiered plans, competitive.	Part of Grafana Cloud/Enterprise or free open-source.
Learning Curve	Moderate to High (due to depth of features).	Moderate (good balance of power and ease).	Low to Moderate (especially for existing Grafana users).
Best For	Large enterprises, complex on-call needs, those prioritizing advanced automation.	Teams prioritizing real-time collaboration, deep ChatOps, and incident visibility.	Teams heavily invested in Grafana, seeking cost-effective or open-source solutions.

Key Considerations for Your Migration

Choosing the right OpsGenie alternative requires a systematic approach, especially for a 50-person engineering team.

Feature Parity and Must-Haves

• Critical Alerting: What are your absolute non-negotiables for alert routing, deduplication, and suppression?
• On-Call Logic: Do you need complex rotating schedules, tiered escalations, or regional overrides?
• Communication Channels: Which notification methods (SMS, voice, push, Slack, Teams) are essential?
• Incident Automation: Are there any runbook automation or auto-remediation features you rely on?

Cost Analysis

• Licensing Model: Understand per-user costs, tier limitations, and potential additional charges for calls/SMS.
• Hidden Costs: Factor in implementation services, training, and potential integration development.
• ROI: Consider the long-term value, including saved incident resolution time and improved team efficiency.

Integration Ecosystem

• Existing Monitoring: List all your current monitoring tools (Prometheus, Datadog, New Relic, etc.) and check native integrations.
• Communication Tools: Ensure seamless integration with Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other internal communication platforms.
• Ticketing & Project Management: Consider integrations with Jira, ServiceNow, Pendo, etc., for incident tracking.

Ease of Migration and Data Import

• API Capabilities: A robust API is crucial for automating the transfer of schedules, users, and integrations.
• Migration Tools: Check if the vendor or community offers any tools or scripts to aid the transition.
• Historical Data: Decide if you need to migrate past incident data or can start fresh.

Team Familiarity and Training

• User Experience: Conduct trials with a small team to assess the UI/UX and ease of use.
• Training Resources: Evaluate the availability of documentation, tutorials, and support for your team.
• Change Management: Plan for internal communication and training sessions to ensure smooth adoption.

Conclusion

The forced migration from OpsGenie presents a unique opportunity to reassess and optimize your incident management strategy. While PagerDuty, Splunk On-Call, and Grafana OnCall offer compelling alternatives, the “best” choice hinges on your team’s specific requirements, existing tech stack, budget, and desired feature set.

We recommend a structured approach: conduct a thorough internal audit of your current OpsGenie usage, prioritize must-have features, evaluate the three solutions in depth through trials, and factor in the ease of integration and user adoption for your 50-person engineering team. By taking a methodical approach, you can turn this challenge into an opportunity to enhance your incident response capabilities and operational resilience.

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