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The Confusing Flavors of APM

Jim Swepson

Attending Interop in Vegas last month, I was surprised to note the number of vendors exhibiting their wares under the banner of APM – Application Performance Management. With all the different offerings, it was rather confusing.

It got me thinking about a trip I’d taken the night before to an ice-cream parlour. I love ice-cream, and at the parlour there were plenty of flavors on offer. With APM, as with ice-cream, meeting customer demand is key — one flavor doesn’t suit everyone.

I’ve been aware of APM for a good number of years but it’s only recently that companies are taking performance of applications (as opposed to availability) seriously. It can be a bit confusing for anyone venturing into this area, but with more cloud and virtual solutions being taken up, the importance of application performance over networks becomes paramount as networks, of all sorts, form a critical part of the delivery.

So what are the flavors of APM? According to Bojan Simic, an analyst with TRAC Research, "APM consists of multiple underlying technologies and nine sub-markets that cover buyers’ requirements” and he goes on to say that ”the APM market is not well defined and end-user organizations often find it challenging to understand what APM technologies are relevant for their specific needs."

No wonder it’s confusing to the customer who has a need - it sounds like the market itself is offering many solutions around APM, but, somehow you have to work out for yourself, which one will best meet your needs. There doesn’t seem to be no-one flavor that suits all…

APM is a term that has been invented relatively recently. Clearly, the name should say it all - “Application Performance Management”, but there are two general approaches: Those tools that deal with Application Performance e.g. "response time" and "throughput", and those that deal with "infrastructural issues" which lead to poor application performance e.g. running out of network bandwidth.

The latter have pre-existed the name APM and in a sense are not truly APM tools at all, but they are now often bundled into this terminology as infrastructure performance issues inevitably lead to Application Performance Issues.

But there are other important aspects of APM, e.g. Enterprise Management Associates recently completed their EMA Radar for Application-Aware Network Performance Management 2013. In the report, EMA VP of Research, Jim Frey, talks about how there is now "a focus on recognizing and eliminating performance degradations".

From my perspective this fits in nicely with my view of APM, it may have a different title, but fundamentally it’s about keeping your application performing well, but with greater understanding of the issues.

In the end though, it’s going to be up to you, the client, to decide what flavor of APM suits your environment (server focused, client focused, network focused, investigative etc.), and if Interop 2013 is anything to go by, there is a plethora of options to choose from.

If you can’t get out of the office, then check out blog sites such as APMdigest and analyst information such as Ovum Group’s Solution Guide: Application Performance Management — as with TRAC and EMA, there is a good overview of not only the differing vendor offerings, but also what now constitutes APM.

So like ice cream there may be many flavors, just make sure you know which flavors suits your business needs and when you’ve chosen your flavor you can choose from the brands that deliver it.

Jim Swepson is Pre-sales Technologist at Itrinegy.

Related Links:

www.itrinegy.com

TRAC Research APM Spectrum

EMA Radar for Application-Aware Network Performance Management 2013

Ovum Solution Guide for APM

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The Confusing Flavors of APM

Jim Swepson

Attending Interop in Vegas last month, I was surprised to note the number of vendors exhibiting their wares under the banner of APM – Application Performance Management. With all the different offerings, it was rather confusing.

It got me thinking about a trip I’d taken the night before to an ice-cream parlour. I love ice-cream, and at the parlour there were plenty of flavors on offer. With APM, as with ice-cream, meeting customer demand is key — one flavor doesn’t suit everyone.

I’ve been aware of APM for a good number of years but it’s only recently that companies are taking performance of applications (as opposed to availability) seriously. It can be a bit confusing for anyone venturing into this area, but with more cloud and virtual solutions being taken up, the importance of application performance over networks becomes paramount as networks, of all sorts, form a critical part of the delivery.

So what are the flavors of APM? According to Bojan Simic, an analyst with TRAC Research, "APM consists of multiple underlying technologies and nine sub-markets that cover buyers’ requirements” and he goes on to say that ”the APM market is not well defined and end-user organizations often find it challenging to understand what APM technologies are relevant for their specific needs."

No wonder it’s confusing to the customer who has a need - it sounds like the market itself is offering many solutions around APM, but, somehow you have to work out for yourself, which one will best meet your needs. There doesn’t seem to be no-one flavor that suits all…

APM is a term that has been invented relatively recently. Clearly, the name should say it all - “Application Performance Management”, but there are two general approaches: Those tools that deal with Application Performance e.g. "response time" and "throughput", and those that deal with "infrastructural issues" which lead to poor application performance e.g. running out of network bandwidth.

The latter have pre-existed the name APM and in a sense are not truly APM tools at all, but they are now often bundled into this terminology as infrastructure performance issues inevitably lead to Application Performance Issues.

But there are other important aspects of APM, e.g. Enterprise Management Associates recently completed their EMA Radar for Application-Aware Network Performance Management 2013. In the report, EMA VP of Research, Jim Frey, talks about how there is now "a focus on recognizing and eliminating performance degradations".

From my perspective this fits in nicely with my view of APM, it may have a different title, but fundamentally it’s about keeping your application performing well, but with greater understanding of the issues.

In the end though, it’s going to be up to you, the client, to decide what flavor of APM suits your environment (server focused, client focused, network focused, investigative etc.), and if Interop 2013 is anything to go by, there is a plethora of options to choose from.

If you can’t get out of the office, then check out blog sites such as APMdigest and analyst information such as Ovum Group’s Solution Guide: Application Performance Management — as with TRAC and EMA, there is a good overview of not only the differing vendor offerings, but also what now constitutes APM.

So like ice cream there may be many flavors, just make sure you know which flavors suits your business needs and when you’ve chosen your flavor you can choose from the brands that deliver it.

Jim Swepson is Pre-sales Technologist at Itrinegy.

Related Links:

www.itrinegy.com

TRAC Research APM Spectrum

EMA Radar for Application-Aware Network Performance Management 2013

Ovum Solution Guide for APM

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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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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