A Survey of AIOps in the Era of Large Language Models

TL;DR

This survey comprehensively reviews how large language models are transforming AIOps by analyzing recent research, methods, data sources, and evaluation techniques, highlighting current trends, gaps, and future directions.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of LLM applications in AIOps, synthesizing 183 papers to identify key advancements, challenges, and research gaps in this emerging field.

Findings

LLMs enable advanced processing of legacy failure data.

Emergence of new AIOps tasks driven by LLM capabilities.

Evaluation methods are evolving to assess LLM-based AIOps solutions.

Abstract

As large language models (LLMs) grow increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, their application to various Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOps) tasks has garnered significant attention. However, a comprehensive understanding of the impact, potential, and limitations of LLMs in AIOps remains in its infancy. To address this gap, we conducted a detailed survey of LLM4AIOps, focusing on how LLMs can optimize processes and improve outcomes in this domain. We analyzed 183 research papers published between January 2020 and December 2024 to answer four key research questions (RQs). In RQ1, we examine the diverse failure data sources utilized, including advanced LLM-based processing techniques for legacy data and the incorporation of new data sources enabled by LLMs. RQ2 explores the evolution of AIOps tasks, highlighting the emergence of novel tasks and the publication trends across these tasks. RQ3 investigates the various LLM-based methods applied to address AIOps challenges. Finally, RQ4 reviews evaluation methodologies tailored to assess LLM-integrated AIOps approaches. Based on our findings, we discuss the state-of-the-art advancements and trends, identify gaps in existing research, and propose promising directions for future exploration.