Two principal metrics you must monitor for any Application

For sure, transaction volumes and response times are the first two metrics to consider.

But that is not what makes APM a complex undertaking.

Everybody, for years, has been MONITORING volumes and response time. Actually DOING SOMETHING with the data – this is the real gap.

There are many organizational impediments that conspire to bog down the sharing of this critical information. The real focus of APM (where the ‘M’ == management) is to facilitate collaboration on the data. Getting the data to the right people in the organization and giving them a mechanism to effect the change needed to improve or restore performance – this is the gap that the APM vendors still need to work on addressing.

Monitoring without paying attention to collaboration – and you miss the APM value. Nobody picks up a “hammer” and instantly knows how to build a house! The tools today are great ‘hammers’…

Monitoring + Organizational Processes (Collaboration) – and APM delivers. No matter whose ‘hammer’ you happen to have.