27 May 2026

Dependency peaks hide in averages

Shared services look fine on monthly means while application fan-out quietly sets the next capacity surprise.

Office corridor with warm morning light

Averages smooth away the moments planners need most. Application analytics that only report daily means will miss the fifteen-minute fan-out that saturates a shared store.

When reconstructing dependency load, align clocks across callers and sample the raw pressure events — not only the rolled-up board. Note which retries amplify cost and which paths share risk windows.

The planning brief should name peaks, not just trends. If a dependency cannot be measured at the resolution of your peak, say so — silence is still a finding.

Talk through your planning signals