Application performance monitoring (APM) is the monitoring and management of the performance and availability of software applications. The ultimate goal of such a monitoring process is to provide end users with a high-quality experience.
In recent years, software applications have evolved to be more complex, dynamic, robust and distributed in nature. Applications have also changed their formats, starting with standalone to client-server and then mobile and distributed cloud-based solutions. The introduction of mobile and cloud computing have also changed how applications are used today.
Application performance monitoring is not new, but in the past it was limited to the application development phase; it was just used to ensure that the application met demands at the time of deployment.
The current demand of the next-generation corporate world is to make applications available anytime, anywhere on any device. To meet this demand, the importance of application performance monitoring has also increased manyfold.
Application performance monitoring has now become a part of day-to-day operations. It ensures real-time monitoring of performance and efficiency. As a result, decision makers can rely on this data and make effective business decisions.
Some points which make application performance monitoring important include:
- Diverse platforms: In modern computing, applications are accessed from different platforms like phones, tablets and desktops. These platforms are comprised of different operating systems, software/hardware platforms, security setups and other limitations. Therefore, continuous application performance monitoring is an essential part for smooth operations. This can largely be achieved by real-time monitoring (using APM tools) of what is actually going on inside an application, its dependencies, how they perform in these different platforms and how different network topologies work with platform architectures.
- Business continuity: Business continuity and application performance are dependent on each other, and critical for success. Any disruption in performance can cost a business money. So organizations should use proper APM tools and processes for the collection of reports on applications. Collection of such valuable data can aid in finding statistics on operations and real-time analysis that offers performance metrics.
- Complex development process: Due to the complexity in the application development process, much testing is required to ensure performance. Many APM tools are also available to monitor it continuously and provide administrators with data regarding memory demands, CPU utilization, bandwidth usage, data throughput and more. Using this data, administrators can identify and solve problems in the development processes of applications.
Application performance monitoring is very important, and must be performed continuously on a regular basis. Different APM tools are also available to make the process more efficient. Today’s corporate world is dependent on applications, so application performance monitoring is critical for their success.
