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3 Tips to Gain Executive Buy-In on APM

Larry Dragich

Convincing the astute executive who is cautious in making an impetuous decision on an APM investment can prove to be challenging. Consider the amount of due diligence that is brought to bear in the decision making process. The wide array of APM technologies that need to be reviewed can be intimidating.

The selection criteria for application monitoring doesn't have to be an arduous one, lending credence to the idea that an APM solution can be simplified, understood, and implemented. I'm suggesting that the critical success factors in the adoption of APM center around the End-User-Experience (EUE) and the integration touch points with the Incident Management process.

Focus on highlighting the simple metrics, ease of use, and positive impact that this investment will make to the business.

The following are three points to consider when presenting APM's panoramic view of the enterprise and articulating its benefits.

1. Highlight the Simplicity

Dial it down, and fine tune the message to how the application is performing from a business perspective. The second generation of APM comes with a myriad of metrics, gauges, and dashboards, which can be overwhelming at first glance.

Steer clear of flashy dashboards with dozens of metrics and animated icons that have little true meaning. Present a dashboard that answers critical performance questions in one click or less. Focus on showing basic, easy to understand real-time monitoring metrics.

2. Show Value with Existing Tool-Sets

It is important to show how the APM solution can tie into systems that are in place today, by articulating the big picture, so that IT leaders can conceptualize the value coming from the new solution.

How you articulate the Manager of Managers (MoM) concept and how it will support the overall solution is essential for buy-in. To gain more insight into this overall concept read: APM and MoM – Symbiotic Solution Sets.

3. Get Your Priorities Straight

Begin your quest to clear up the cognitive dissonance your sponsors may have with the need for purchasing multiple technologies in order to provide application monitoring (real business value), and start the process of first understanding what’s important to them.

Don’t let the technical dogma of the APM Model cloud the overall vision you are trying to create. For help on this, read Prioritizing Gartner's APM Model. You want to create the most accurate picture possible and show how an APM solution can complement the existing technologies that are in place today.

Conclusion

How extensible will your APM solution be? If it is flexible enough to integrate ubiquitously, and dynamic enough to be configured rapidly, then you will be poised for expansion and ready to begin monitoring anything that comes your way. This is the essence for APM adoption to become successful by being an integral part of the overall IT solution.

You can contact Larry on LinkedIn.

Related Links:

For more information on the critical success factors in APM adoption and how this centers around the End-User-Experience (EUE), read The Anatomy of APM and the corresponding blog APM’s DNA – Event to Incident Flow.

Prioritizing Gartner's APM Model

Event Management: Reactive, Proactive, or Predictive?

APM and MoM – Symbiotic Solution Sets

Real-Time Monitoring Metrics - The Magical Mundane

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According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

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In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

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3 Tips to Gain Executive Buy-In on APM

Larry Dragich

Convincing the astute executive who is cautious in making an impetuous decision on an APM investment can prove to be challenging. Consider the amount of due diligence that is brought to bear in the decision making process. The wide array of APM technologies that need to be reviewed can be intimidating.

The selection criteria for application monitoring doesn't have to be an arduous one, lending credence to the idea that an APM solution can be simplified, understood, and implemented. I'm suggesting that the critical success factors in the adoption of APM center around the End-User-Experience (EUE) and the integration touch points with the Incident Management process.

Focus on highlighting the simple metrics, ease of use, and positive impact that this investment will make to the business.

The following are three points to consider when presenting APM's panoramic view of the enterprise and articulating its benefits.

1. Highlight the Simplicity

Dial it down, and fine tune the message to how the application is performing from a business perspective. The second generation of APM comes with a myriad of metrics, gauges, and dashboards, which can be overwhelming at first glance.

Steer clear of flashy dashboards with dozens of metrics and animated icons that have little true meaning. Present a dashboard that answers critical performance questions in one click or less. Focus on showing basic, easy to understand real-time monitoring metrics.

2. Show Value with Existing Tool-Sets

It is important to show how the APM solution can tie into systems that are in place today, by articulating the big picture, so that IT leaders can conceptualize the value coming from the new solution.

How you articulate the Manager of Managers (MoM) concept and how it will support the overall solution is essential for buy-in. To gain more insight into this overall concept read: APM and MoM – Symbiotic Solution Sets.

3. Get Your Priorities Straight

Begin your quest to clear up the cognitive dissonance your sponsors may have with the need for purchasing multiple technologies in order to provide application monitoring (real business value), and start the process of first understanding what’s important to them.

Don’t let the technical dogma of the APM Model cloud the overall vision you are trying to create. For help on this, read Prioritizing Gartner's APM Model. You want to create the most accurate picture possible and show how an APM solution can complement the existing technologies that are in place today.

Conclusion

How extensible will your APM solution be? If it is flexible enough to integrate ubiquitously, and dynamic enough to be configured rapidly, then you will be poised for expansion and ready to begin monitoring anything that comes your way. This is the essence for APM adoption to become successful by being an integral part of the overall IT solution.

You can contact Larry on LinkedIn.

Related Links:

For more information on the critical success factors in APM adoption and how this centers around the End-User-Experience (EUE), read The Anatomy of APM and the corresponding blog APM’s DNA – Event to Incident Flow.

Prioritizing Gartner's APM Model

Event Management: Reactive, Proactive, or Predictive?

APM and MoM – Symbiotic Solution Sets

Real-Time Monitoring Metrics - The Magical Mundane

The Latest

According to Auvik's 2025 IT Trends Report, 60% of IT professionals feel at least moderately burned out on the job, with 43% stating that their workload is contributing to work stress. At the same time, many IT professionals are naming AI and machine learning as key areas they'd most like to upskill ...

Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan. What's the solution? The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing ...

IT spending is expected to jump nearly 10% in 2025, and organizations are now facing pressure to manage costs without slowing down critical functions like observability. To meet the challenge, leaders are turning to smarter, more cost effective business strategies. Enter stage right: OpenTelemetry, the missing piece of the puzzle that is no longer just an option but rather a strategic advantage ...

Amidst the threat of cyberhacks and data breaches, companies install several security measures to keep their business safely afloat. These measures aim to protect businesses, employees, and crucial data. Yet, employees perceive them as burdensome. Frustrated with complex logins, slow access, and constant security checks, workers decide to completely bypass all security set-ups ...

Image
Cloudbrink's Personal SASE services provide last-mile acceleration and reduction in latency

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 13, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses hybrid multi-cloud networking strategy ... 

In high-traffic environments, the sheer volume and unpredictable nature of network incidents can quickly overwhelm even the most skilled teams, hindering their ability to react swiftly and effectively, potentially impacting service availability and overall business performance. This is where closed-loop remediation comes into the picture: an IT management concept designed to address the escalating complexity of modern networks ...

In 2025, enterprise workflows are undergoing a seismic shift. Propelled by breakthroughs in generative AI (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), and natural language processing (NLP), a new paradigm is emerging — agentic AI. This technology is not just automating tasks; it's reimagining how organizations make decisions, engage customers, and operate at scale ...

In the early days of the cloud revolution, business leaders perceived cloud services as a means of sidelining IT organizations. IT was too slow, too expensive, or incapable of supporting new technologies. With a team of developers, line of business managers could deploy new applications and services in the cloud. IT has been fighting to retake control ever since. Today, IT is back in the driver's seat, according to new research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) ...

In today's fast-paced and increasingly complex network environments, Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are the backbone of ensuring continuous uptime, smooth service delivery, and rapid issue resolution. However, the challenges faced by NOC teams are only growing. In a recent study, 78% state network complexity has grown significantly over the last few years while 84% regularly learn about network issues from users. It is imperative we adopt a new approach to managing today's network experiences ...

Image
Broadcom

From growing reliance on FinOps teams to the increasing attention on artificial intelligence (AI), and software licensing, the Flexera 2025 State of the Cloud Report digs into how organizations are improving cloud spend efficiency, while tackling the complexities of emerging technologies ...