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Exploring Next-Gen Application Performance Management

Dr. Thomas Mendel Ph.D.

The following is based on excerpts from Research In Action's Vendor Selection Matrix for Next Generation Application Performance Management.

The importance of Application Performance Management is at an all time high. This is a very dynamic market, highly complex and with many different facets. Application Performance Management solutions today have many faces and definitions, few vendors can be compared on an apples to apples basis.

There are more than 400 active software and SaaS vendors generating around $4.6 billion in annual revenue. However, the overall importance of Application Performance Management for the IT Service, Application and Operation Management space as a whole, is still growing every year. This makes it worthwhile to look ahead to see what the future will look like for the Next Generation of Application Management solutions.

The End-User Pain Points Today

The Cloud challenge in the extended enterprise

The Cloud phenomenon is driving investment from IT buyers to address issues in Application Performance Management around new applications in the Cloud, as well as extended real-time and Big Data requirements. More traditional challenges around N-tier Applications and instrumentation, are further exemplified by the Cloud.

More business orientation

DevOps is only the beginning, but already high on the agenda for 2015. As the business becomes more entrenched in Application Management as a whole, business SLAs are a key focal point for 2015 as well.

More integration issues than one can handle

IT decision makers are still struggling with the many areas of integration in today’s Application Performance Management implementations. Very few companies have worked this out completely.The most important integration challenges come from the areas of:

1. Cost

2. Capacity

3. BPM/BTM

4. Business process

5. The CMDB

Requirements for Next Generation APM

In a survey of 1600 IT Managers, respondents were asked: What are the key requirements for a Next Generation Application Performance Management solution? The chart below shows the results.


The Next Generation of APM Solutions

APM is a changing market with new and clearer requirements. Application Performance Management has a long history in many enterprises. Many implementations are already more than 25 years old. Vendors and IT buyers alike a struggling with updating their solution sets to accommodate the quickly changing requirements.

The Next Generation Application Performance Management solutions, however, will be based a clearer set of requirements, making it easier to implement and maintain, as well as to compare vendors.

SaaS will be the future delivery platform. SaaS will be the platform of choice for ROI conscious buyers. Next Generation Application Performance Management will be predominantly a SaaS play. SaaS is now widely accepted. While new players are already predominantly SaaS-only, established players are either revamping their solutions, or are at least offering SaaS options. A much better ROI as well as ease of deploy and upgrade are the major drivers for this.

Next Generation Application Performance Management will be more streamlined. The technical requirements for Next Generation Application Performance Management will ultimately lead to a vendor landscape that is much more comparable than the one in today’s highly fragmented market.

Dr. Thomas Mendel Ph.D. is Managing Director of Research in Action.

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Exploring Next-Gen Application Performance Management

Dr. Thomas Mendel Ph.D.

The following is based on excerpts from Research In Action's Vendor Selection Matrix for Next Generation Application Performance Management.

The importance of Application Performance Management is at an all time high. This is a very dynamic market, highly complex and with many different facets. Application Performance Management solutions today have many faces and definitions, few vendors can be compared on an apples to apples basis.

There are more than 400 active software and SaaS vendors generating around $4.6 billion in annual revenue. However, the overall importance of Application Performance Management for the IT Service, Application and Operation Management space as a whole, is still growing every year. This makes it worthwhile to look ahead to see what the future will look like for the Next Generation of Application Management solutions.

The End-User Pain Points Today

The Cloud challenge in the extended enterprise

The Cloud phenomenon is driving investment from IT buyers to address issues in Application Performance Management around new applications in the Cloud, as well as extended real-time and Big Data requirements. More traditional challenges around N-tier Applications and instrumentation, are further exemplified by the Cloud.

More business orientation

DevOps is only the beginning, but already high on the agenda for 2015. As the business becomes more entrenched in Application Management as a whole, business SLAs are a key focal point for 2015 as well.

More integration issues than one can handle

IT decision makers are still struggling with the many areas of integration in today’s Application Performance Management implementations. Very few companies have worked this out completely.The most important integration challenges come from the areas of:

1. Cost

2. Capacity

3. BPM/BTM

4. Business process

5. The CMDB

Requirements for Next Generation APM

In a survey of 1600 IT Managers, respondents were asked: What are the key requirements for a Next Generation Application Performance Management solution? The chart below shows the results.


The Next Generation of APM Solutions

APM is a changing market with new and clearer requirements. Application Performance Management has a long history in many enterprises. Many implementations are already more than 25 years old. Vendors and IT buyers alike a struggling with updating their solution sets to accommodate the quickly changing requirements.

The Next Generation Application Performance Management solutions, however, will be based a clearer set of requirements, making it easier to implement and maintain, as well as to compare vendors.

SaaS will be the future delivery platform. SaaS will be the platform of choice for ROI conscious buyers. Next Generation Application Performance Management will be predominantly a SaaS play. SaaS is now widely accepted. While new players are already predominantly SaaS-only, established players are either revamping their solutions, or are at least offering SaaS options. A much better ROI as well as ease of deploy and upgrade are the major drivers for this.

Next Generation Application Performance Management will be more streamlined. The technical requirements for Next Generation Application Performance Management will ultimately lead to a vendor landscape that is much more comparable than the one in today’s highly fragmented market.

Dr. Thomas Mendel Ph.D. is Managing Director of Research in Action.

Hot Topics

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 ...

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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 ...

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