What is Application Performance Management Software?

Introduction

Application Performance Management (APM) software is also known as application performance monitoring software. It detects and diagnoses complicated application performance issues to enable companies to maintain a high level of service. The solution helps organizations to track the performance metrics of their vital applications, get timely notifications if there are any performance problems, and produce reports for regular performance analysis. An APM solution typically has three functions:

Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) for applications

Application discovery, tracing, and diagnostics (ADTD)

Digital experience monitoring (DEM)

Artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) for applications

This is not a main function of APM platforms but is concerned with Application Analytics (AA) which is crucial. It consists of root cause assessment and performance alerting. Further, it includes monitoring performance anomalies for HTTP/S transactions backed by .NET and Java application servers.

Digital experience monitoring (DEM)

Concentrates on end user experience based on performance and availability of business services and applications. Consists of synthetic transaction monitoring and real user monitoring, typically utilizing digital agents that engage with business apps to capture transactional info.

Application discovery, tracing, and diagnostics (ADTD)

The main part of an APM program. Consists of dependency mapping and application discovery, tracking of important metrics, and detailed evaluation of application transactions to identify application errors. IT teams assess the capabilities in this division before deciding to invest in an APM platform.

Features of Application Performance Management Software

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Chief KPIs include error states, memory and disk utilization, CPU utilization, session and thread details, requests per minute, and response times. They include the initial set of crucial infrastructure and application metrics you need to check to gauge the efficiency of your applications. Your APM system should be capable of providing this information precisely at regular intervals.

ADDM

ADDM stands for Application Discovery and Dependency Mapping. This feature enables the APM software to automatically discover all servers and applications in your network, categorize them as servers, VMs, DBs etc., and give you the capability to visualize application interdependencies. The function assists to save time spend trying to identify an obstacle in a group of apps.

One Console for All Round Tracking

A good APM software packs all the essential tools such as all round tracking, alerting, and detailed reporting, to eliminate the difficulty of using multiple programs to optimize and measure app performance.

Wide Array of Supported Applications

Besides having the ability to monitor a range of frameworks and applications, your APM software should also be able to meet your individual company needs. For instance, apart from monitoring your web server and database performance figures, the platform should also be capable of tracking your organization’s custom-designed web applications. In short, the system should be flexible to support all the needed monitorable touch  points in your IT ecosystem.

Benefits of Application Performance Management Software

Can Foster Innovation

By proactively managing applications, your IT team can minimize fire drills. APM software facilitates efficient knowledge sharing and collaboration between different units such as Application Development, Operations, Support, and DevOps. This enables the fast resolution of recurring issues without the need for fire drills. As a result, your IT team will have more time to come up with innovative solutions to tackle business challenges and leverage potential opportunities.

Improves Productivity

Many IT leaders spend a lot of time in managing their application infrastructure which means they have to postpone or eliminate the implementation of strategic initiatives. APM software gives IT teams a “birds-eye” overview of their application environment and presents proactive alerts about what needs to be corrected before customers and staff are affected. This allows IT leaders to smartly allocate resources to restart services, adjust memory, and other tasks, while gaining more time to concentrate on strategic, revenue-producing plans.

Enhances the Consumer Experience

With APM software, you can generate loyalty and satisfaction among your external and internal customers. The program ensures that your external-facing and internal sites function optimally with good uptime so that your customers don’t move away to a competitor’s website and your staff can work efficiently and productively on their tasks.

Ensures Business Continuity

Downtime and disruption in business continuity can lead to lost productivity and revenue, regulatory penalties, loss of consumer loyalty, and damage to company reputation. APM software gives you an enhanced level of business continuity through high availability of vital services, effective resolution of problems, and safer changes and upgrades to the application infrastructure. The platform combines with IT process analytics tools to efficiently predict and avert downtime. IT specialists estimate that businesses can reduce their downtime and business impact by up to 60 to 70% by investing in a quality APM system to optimize their processes.

Decreases Revenue Risk

Your IT platforms need to be available and accessible all the time in the modern on-demand economy. For instance, on an important shopping day like Black Friday, a dysfunctional IT element in an e-commerce system can result in abandoned shopping carts and lost sales. A good APM solution can help to avoid this disaster as it can proactively detect degradation in system performance levels, so that the IT team can quickly resolve the concern and ensure that shopping carts are checked out efficiently to boost sales.