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More on SolarWinds Prediction for APM in 2017

You Keep Using That Word
Leon Adato

As an IT professional, I'm used to words that mean different things to different people. For example, "log monitoring" could mean anything from simple text files to logfile aggregation systems. "Uptime" is also notoriously hard to nail down. Heck, even the word "monitoring" itself can be obscure.

To illustrate this phenomenon, I often bring up the (completely unrelated) classical Chinese poem Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den. Spoken out loud, every word is a version of the sound "shi." But as you can see, aside from the pronunciation, each word has extremely different meanings.

This is why I'm not surprised that application performance monitoring (APM) can mean so many different things depending on the context. But what is most confounding is that these usages are not mutually exclusive. There is overlap. This graphic demonstrates:


As you can see, there's code-centric APM (cAPM) where the focus is on code execution, transactions moving through the message queue, transforms, etc. This type of APM is often applied to custom developed code, or applications that are highly transactional in nature.

At the other end of the spectrum, there's operations-centric APM (oAPM). This type of APM is more concerned with what's often called "shrink-wrapped" software, which can be everything from single-purpose business utilities to enterprise class tools, such as Microsoft Exchange and even foundational things like the operating system itself. The point isn't that they are any less sophisticated than the programs that use code-centric APM, but the needs are different. More on this point in a moment.

There's also web-centric APM, or web performance monitoring (WPM), which, as the name implies, is focused on monitoring web applications. So it's less about the code execution or the stability of the underlying server application, and more about how the user of the web application is experiencing the service.

Finally, there's database-centric APM (dbAPM). In this iteration, it's all about the things that make your database go bump in the night: long running queries, locking, blocking, and wait states.

If you look at it closely, you can see the overlap. cAPM still cares that the application itself is healthy, and it can provide insight into things like services and processes, performance counters, and log messages. But that's not the primary focus. Similarly, oAPM has the ability to expose issues with transactions, but not to the level that cAPM does. Where it shines, however, is in operational metrics. And the same is true for WPM and dbAPM. 

This has all always been true, but it wasn't as clear until recently. The emergence (and convergence) of cloud, DevOps, hybrid IT, and everything-as-a-service (EaaS) has highlighted both the overlap and the differences. 

This is why I recently predicted that, "2017 will be the year of 'not just' in APM. As in 'not just agent-based transaction tracking' or 'not just for DevOps.' But most importantly, 'not just for home-grown code.' In the coming year, APM will fully embrace the words behind the acronym to include tools and techniques that allow management of all application types — from those developed in-house to customized-off-the-shelf ones, to pure shrink-wrap apps that enterprises purchase, install, and run as-is. Yes! Some of those really do still exist."

I'm looking forward to the time — in this coming year, if my prediction holds true — when IT professionals can say, "APM" and understand the nuances the same way students of Chinese literature understand that "shí shì shī shì shī shì" means, "A poet named Shi lived in a stone room."

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More on SolarWinds Prediction for APM in 2017

You Keep Using That Word
Leon Adato

As an IT professional, I'm used to words that mean different things to different people. For example, "log monitoring" could mean anything from simple text files to logfile aggregation systems. "Uptime" is also notoriously hard to nail down. Heck, even the word "monitoring" itself can be obscure.

To illustrate this phenomenon, I often bring up the (completely unrelated) classical Chinese poem Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den. Spoken out loud, every word is a version of the sound "shi." But as you can see, aside from the pronunciation, each word has extremely different meanings.

This is why I'm not surprised that application performance monitoring (APM) can mean so many different things depending on the context. But what is most confounding is that these usages are not mutually exclusive. There is overlap. This graphic demonstrates:


As you can see, there's code-centric APM (cAPM) where the focus is on code execution, transactions moving through the message queue, transforms, etc. This type of APM is often applied to custom developed code, or applications that are highly transactional in nature.

At the other end of the spectrum, there's operations-centric APM (oAPM). This type of APM is more concerned with what's often called "shrink-wrapped" software, which can be everything from single-purpose business utilities to enterprise class tools, such as Microsoft Exchange and even foundational things like the operating system itself. The point isn't that they are any less sophisticated than the programs that use code-centric APM, but the needs are different. More on this point in a moment.

There's also web-centric APM, or web performance monitoring (WPM), which, as the name implies, is focused on monitoring web applications. So it's less about the code execution or the stability of the underlying server application, and more about how the user of the web application is experiencing the service.

Finally, there's database-centric APM (dbAPM). In this iteration, it's all about the things that make your database go bump in the night: long running queries, locking, blocking, and wait states.

If you look at it closely, you can see the overlap. cAPM still cares that the application itself is healthy, and it can provide insight into things like services and processes, performance counters, and log messages. But that's not the primary focus. Similarly, oAPM has the ability to expose issues with transactions, but not to the level that cAPM does. Where it shines, however, is in operational metrics. And the same is true for WPM and dbAPM. 

This has all always been true, but it wasn't as clear until recently. The emergence (and convergence) of cloud, DevOps, hybrid IT, and everything-as-a-service (EaaS) has highlighted both the overlap and the differences. 

This is why I recently predicted that, "2017 will be the year of 'not just' in APM. As in 'not just agent-based transaction tracking' or 'not just for DevOps.' But most importantly, 'not just for home-grown code.' In the coming year, APM will fully embrace the words behind the acronym to include tools and techniques that allow management of all application types — from those developed in-house to customized-off-the-shelf ones, to pure shrink-wrap apps that enterprises purchase, install, and run as-is. Yes! Some of those really do still exist."

I'm looking forward to the time — in this coming year, if my prediction holds true — when IT professionals can say, "APM" and understand the nuances the same way students of Chinese literature understand that "shí shì shī shì shī shì" means, "A poet named Shi lived in a stone room."

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 ...

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 ...