Application performance monitoring describes the tracking of vital metrics to ensure that business critical software meets performance, availability and UX standards.
In today's highly connected, extremely digitalised world, there is a lot riding on apps. Modern software needs to be able to do more than simply perform specific functions; it needs to bring constant value, remain available at all times, respond immediately to user requests and provide a flawless user experience. This goes beyond the downloadable apps that customers pack onto their mobile devices; business applications drive the day-to-day work of organisations in all industries. As such, ensuring that their software tools and programs are functioning optimally has become a major concern for companies of all sizes.
When applications become integral to business (both externally and internally), organisations need an effective and comprehensive way to oversee their essential software. Application performance monitoring may be the answer.
Application performance monitoring (also called APM) places software performance under a microscope. With APM, businesses can continuously monitor application performance and availability, while also tracking and improving the end-user experience.
Application performance monitoring guards and monitors business software systems. APM solutions continuously monitor applications and infrastructure, collecting a wealth of data on various performance metrics, transactions and user interactions. Organisations can then analyse this data to identify potential issues, provide clear insights, address performance bottlenecks and optimise resource usage for improved cost savings.
Just as applications exist to perform a nearly limitless number of functions, APM must be capable of encompassing a broad range of use cases. With this in mind, some of the core functionalities of modern APM include:
The first step in monitoring business and customer facing applications is creating a map of the entire app ecosystem. APM must be able to automatically discover applications, even in dynamic environments, and to fully chart the infrastructure and associated components in real time to deliver important insights into the business' application architecture.
To understand how applications are behaving and what variables may be affecting their performance, APM tracks their complete transactional behaviour and history. This includes CPU usage, response times, error rates, request rates, number of instances and uptime. With a full picture and complete transparency into application performance, business can see exactly how apps are impacting outcomes and the overall user experience.
Being able to see directly into how apps are performing also reveals where problems exist or where they might exist in the future. Organisations can easily identify where on their journey users are becoming frustrated or applications are failing to meet expectations. These causes may also be analysed to determine exactly what kind of an impact they represent for the business.
APM extends its monitoring capabilities to include mobile and desktop applications. It ensures that performance and user experience on various platforms are consistently monitored, providing valuable insights for optimising cross-device functionality.
Integrating seamlessly with other tools and systems within an organisation's technology stack, APM enables automation of alerts, notifications and remediation processes, streamlining the monitoring and issue resolution workflows.
Although technical metrics are essential, APM goes beyond technical metrics to monitor business KPIs and analyse user journeys. This helps organisations further align their technological efforts with business objectives, ensuring that application performance directly contributes to achieving desired outcomes.
Tracking the performance and availability of endpoints (such as APIs, services and microservices) is a key function in application performance monitoring. This ensures that all components of the application ecosystem are under constant review, allowing teams to identify issues and optimise application performance when it matters most.
Finally, APM extends its monitoring capabilities to include virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). This capability monitors the performance and availability of virtual desktop environments, ensuring a seamless and productive user experience for remote and virtual desktop users.
APM encompasses a range of monitoring types, each serving a specific purpose in ensuring software performance and user satisfaction. Key forms of APM include:
Full stack monitoring
Full stack monitoring offers a comprehensive view of the entire software stack, including application code, infrastructure and dependencies. This helps identify performance bottlenecks across the entire infrastructure—including those that may be impacting end-user experience.Log monitoring
Log monitoring involves analysing log files generated by applications and infrastructure components to detect errors, anomalies and performance issues through log data analysis. Log monitoring is effective for DevOps teams tasked with detecting and correcting concerns or possible issues across the entire software delivery lifecycle.Cloud monitoring
Cloud monitoring focuses on monitoring applications hosted in cloud environments (such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud). This approach tracks resource utilisation, availability and performance in cloud-based applications and allows organisations to closely observe and manage their cloud infrastructure.Synthetic monitoring
Synthetic monitoring simulates user interactions within the application to assess its performance. By generating various types of synthetic interactions related to different scenarios, this approach provides valuable insights into how the application will perform in the hands of actual users.End-user monitoring
End-user monitoring moves beyond synthetic monitoring by tracking user actions whenever and wherever they use the application. By prioritising the actual experiences of end-users and measuring load times, responsiveness and overall satisfaction with the application, end-user monitoring provides real-world data to help organisations better address potential issues.Service monitoring
Service monitoring provides data and insights into how specific services work together, as well as detailing their impact on the performance of application software. This helps ensure optimal security and performance, as well as service availability.IoT monitoring
IoT monitoring is a monitoring approach specifically created to address issues with Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Monitoring IoT device connectivity, data transmission and overall system health makes it possible for IT teams to quickly diagnose and resolve performance problems before they can significantly impact the user experience.Infrastructure monitoring
Infrastructure monitoring provides teams with a closer look at the underlying infrastructure of the application (including servers, network devices and data centres). This form of monitoring helps confirm that the infrastructure fully supports the application and that any issues can be addressed early on.Network monitoring
Network Monitoring centres on monitoring network performance and bandwidth usage to identify network-related issues that may affect application performance. This is used to improve both on-premises and off-premises deployments.
- Database monitoring
Database Monitoring focuses on the performance of databases supporting applications. This involves tracking query execution times, indexing and database resource utilisation.
While an effective APM can be useful for gathering surface information, it is worth noting that there are also commercially available niche solutions and toolsets for each of the above, providing more diagnostic data and increased insight to relevant teams. Even so, APM exists as a reliable general solution for those who want to improve their observability across the board.
APM works with a comprehensive range of metrics to provide organisations with a holistic view of their application's health, efficiency and user experience. These metrics play a vital role in assessing and optimising application performance:
CPU usage is a fundamental metric that measures a processor's workload. APM monitors CPU usage to identify whether the application is efficiently utilising available processing power. High CPU usage can indicate performance bottlenecks, resource contention or the need for the team to further optimise the software.
Error rates measure the frequency of errors or failures within an application. APM identifies errors and exceptions, enabling organisations to proactively address issues before they impact users. Lower error rates indicate a more stable and reliable application.
Transaction tracing involves monitoring individual user transactions within an application. APM captures transaction details, providing insights into how transactions flow through different components and services. Transaction tracing helps diagnose bottlenecks and optimise critical user interactions.
APM tracks the number of instances—or instances of application components—running concurrently. This metric ensures that the application can scale to meet user demand, as an increase in instances may be necessary during traffic spikes or high workloads.
Request metrics monitor the number of user requests or API calls made to the application. Tracking requests helps organisations understand user activity patterns, identify traffic peaks and optimise resource allocation.
Uptime measures the duration that an application is available and operational. APM ensures that applications meet uptime targets and promptly alerts teams to downtime incidents. High uptime is critical for maintaining user trust and preventing revenue loss.
Application availability is a broader metric that evaluates the application's overall accessibility and functionality. This encompasses uptime, error rates and other factors to assess the application's ability to deliver its intended services reliably.
Garbage collection (GC) metrics focus on the management of memory resources in applications. APM monitors GC activity to identify memory leaks or inefficient memory usage, helping optimise application performance and stability.
APM goes beyond technical metrics to measure and analyse the user experience. User-centric metrics include load times, click paths and user interactions. By tracking user experience, organisations can align technical efforts with user expectations, ultimately improving satisfaction and loyalty.
When apps are slow to respond, suffer from unexpected crashes, fail to operate correctly or simply fall below internal or external user expectations, the damage to the business may be significant. Unfortunately, optimising application performance is often a complex and time consuming job. With potentially hundreds of different applications being fielded at once, made up of millions of lines of code each, and comprising interconnected services, solutions and hosting environments, the sheer number of issues that can negatively impact app performance are staggering.
Application performance monitoring empowers organisations with the visibility they need to peer into the hearts of their applications and dependencies and to easily identify and root out issues before they can create problems. The advantages of this approach include:
APM offers a wide array of technical benefits that directly translate into significant advantages. Here are some of the key technical selling points of APM:
Real user monitoring
Real user monitoring (RUM) provides real-time insights into how actual end-users are experiencing an application—capturing data on load times, user interactions and geographic performance variations. This enables IT teams to identify and address performance issues that impact their users, enhancing overall user satisfaction and loyalty.User-defined transaction profiling
User-defined transaction profiling makes it possible to define and track specific user transactions within an application. This provides in-depth visibility into the performance of critical transactions.Component monitoring
Component monitoring focuses on tracking the performance of individual components and services within an application's architecture, helping pinpoint the root causes of performance bottlenecks and facilitating proactive issue resolution.Infrastructure monitoring
Infrastructure monitoring tracks the health and performance of the underlying hardware and network infrastructure supporting the application. This ensures the reliability and availability of the application infrastructure, preventing outages and disruptions that could impact business operations.Analytics
APM analytics tools offer advanced data analysis capabilities, enabling organisations to detect patterns, anomalies and trends in application performance data, informing decision giving teams the insights they need to identify opportunities for improvement.Service level agreement (SLA) monitoring
Service level agreement monitoring tracks performance against predefined SLAs, ensuring that the application meets agreed-upon service levels.
Beyond the technical advantages, APM brings a range of business benefits that can significantly impact an organisation's success. Key business benefits of APM include:
Optimised collaboration
The best application performance monitoring solutions provide companies with a single source of truth. With reliable, agreed-upon insights, teams across departments can more easily align their efforts and improve how they work together. This not only creates a better end product; it also establishes a more rewarding and satisfying job environment for those involved.Elevated innovation
APM encourages teams to align their vision towards improving how they operate. Decision-makers in different departments have access to the same reliable information, creating a solid foundation for brainstorming and innovation.Improved user satisfaction
Although there are other tools for gathering relevant application data, few are capable of putting businesses in the perspective of the end user. APM eschews second and third-order metrics and instead looks directly at the performance metrics users notice. At the same time, by facilitating faster releases, better products and improved availability, APM helps companies meet the expectations of the users. This allows for a level of customer satisfaction beyond what is often possible with more traditional monitoring.Improved productivity
APM tools offer real-time performance data, enabling organisations to adapt the application environment and identify and resolve issues proactively. This dedicated approach reduces downtime and the time spent troubleshooting, allowing employees to focus on productive tasks that have a more direct impact on the bottom line.Increase revenue
APM helps identify and resolve performance issues before they escalate, reducing the need for costly emergency fixes and minimising downtime. With fewer operational disruptions and more efficient resource utilisation, businesses can lower operational costs, allocate resources strategically and improve profitability.Increased conversion rates
APM enables organisations to optimise the performance of critical transactions and user interactions, leading to smoother and more reliable customer journeys. Better journeys mean increased conversions, which then translate into more sales, leads or desired actions taken by users.
Application performance monitoring is sometimes confused with another APM: application performance management. But where application performance monitoring is dedicated to tracking specific metrics, application performance management takes a broader approach.
Application performance management describes the discipline of developing and managing an entire application performance strategy, which includes (but is not limited to) monitoring. Effective application performance management tools include application performance monitoring, allowing organisations to review essential metrics across a range of applications and services, and then use those metrics to identify and remediate performance issues across the entire application suite.
Finally, application portfolio management complements application performance monitoring and application performance management by focusing on a higher-level perspective. While performance monitoring is concerned with tracking specific performance metrics and performance management involves conducting the overall performance strategy, portfolio management encompasses the strategic evaluation and optimisation of an organisation's entire application portfolio and technology stack. This includes decisions about which applications to invest in, retire or replace to align with business objectives and priorities. APM helps organisations allocate resources effectively, ensuring that applications are contributing to overall performance goals.
Similarly, observability is a distinct concept from APM. Observability is a broader and more comprehensive approach to understanding complex software systems. It emphasises capturing a wide range of data, including logs, traces, metrics and events, from various sources within an application's environment. Most observability solutions can perform essentially the same functionality that organisations look for in an APM solution, but with added abilities to scale in cloud-native environments. Observability also provides the ability to explore data flexibly and perform ad-hoc analysis. This is particularly valuable in modern, distributed and microservices-based architectures where traditional application performance monitoring may fall short.
As such, observability is something of an umbrella term that encompasses APM, incorporating additional tools for a more comprehensive look at application performance and behaviour. It could also be argued that APM is the umbrella term and that observability falls within its purview.
APM solutions can further be categorised as either tools or platforms. Where APM 'tools' are individual software apps or solutions designed to monitor and manage the performance of a specific application (or set of applications), APM platforms encompass entire comprehensive suites of monitoring and management tools that provide a broader and more holistic set of solutions to application performance.
The most significant difference between these two categories has to do with their scope—where APM tools are typically used to address specific performance issues within an application, APM platforms are better suited for complex, distributed environments and provide a unified view of an organisation's entire application landscape.
APM platforms and tools provide clear insight into application performance, but they can also do more. The following advantages encompass advanced capabilities that are crucial in today's complex and dynamic digital landscape:
APM solutions provide advanced cloud visibility through seamless integration with cloud environments, allowing organisations to closely and unfalteringly monitor the performance and health of their applications and services hosted in the cloud. With deep insights into cloud-based resources, APM solutions help ensure optimal resource utilisation, cost management and the scalability of applications. The insights provided are invaluable in the era of cloud-centric computing, allowing businesses to leverage cloud resources efficiently while maintaining peak performance.
APM facilitates continuous automation of performance monitoring tasks. These solutions can automatically detect issues, collect data and trigger alerts based on predefined thresholds or anomalies. Automation streamlines the monitoring process, reduces the need for manual intervention and accelerates issue resolution. By automating routine tasks, APM solutions free up valuable time and resources for more strategic activities, improving operational efficiency and responsiveness.
Many APM solutions incorporate AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities. These intelligent features can analyse vast amounts of data, identify patterns and predict potential performance issues before they impact users. AI-driven anomaly detection and root cause analysis empower organisations to proactively address issues, thereby enhancing application reliability and user satisfaction. AI assistance also provides data-driven insights for better decision making and optimisation.
APM solutions promote cross-team collaboration by offering a single source of truth for application performance data. They enable teams from different departments, such as development, operations and business, to access the same reliable information. This alignment facilitates communication, problem solving and decision making, breaking down silos and improving overall collaboration. APM fosters a shared understanding of performance goals and challenges, leading to more effective cross-functional teamwork.
In addition to technical metrics, APM solutions focus on user experience and business analytics. They provide insights into how application performance impacts end users and business outcomes. By analysing user interactions, conversion rates and other user-centric metrics, APM solutions help organisations align their technical efforts with established business objectives. This user-centric approach ensures that application performance enhancements directly contribute to improved user satisfaction, increased revenue and overall business success.
APM has the capacity to help companies optimise their application efficiency and effectiveness. That said, to enjoy its full advantages, organisations must support APM with the right tools and processes. Here are several tips on how to get more out of application performance monitoring:
Given the range of benefits associated with application performance monitoring, it is no surprise that there are so many APM tools currently available. When considering an AMP option, lean towards those that provide a complete solution capable of monitoring the entire infrastructure stack in the correct language for the apps in question. Top APM tools are also extremely user experience focused and capture relevant data to create informed, actionable insights that help organisations connect software performance to important business outcomes.
APM is designed to monitor apps, but it is up to teams within the department to take decisive action based on the information the APM provides. To ensure that important insights are not overlooked, businesses are advised to set automated alerts within their application monitoring tool based on predetermined metrics. When an unexpected deviation occurs, alerts allow teams to take immediate action.
To be effective, APM must be able to work within a business' existing processes. If these processes are unclear, not fully established or constantly changing, then the benefits of application performance are likely to be less profound.
Although there are certain out of the box APM tools that may provide useful insight into software performance, the more effective solutions will generally be those that are configurable to specific business needs. Work within APM to define what behaviour is 'normal' and what constitutes a deviation so that alerts are always relevant to business outcomes.
There are groups and individuals within the organisation who will need to be most thoroughly acquainted with the APM. These include developers and IT teams who are directly responsible for deploying the tool and addressing any potential issues. But for a more comprehensive solution, APM should be deployed across the entire organisation. Building a culture around performance monitoring and understanding the intrinsic connection between app performance and business success, the company can benefit.
To truly optimise the overall impact of essential applications, businesses need Cloud Observability from ServiceNow. Cloud Observability sets the industry standard for bringing all relevant and available data together into a single workflow—allowing organisations to detect changes effortlessly and navigate from effect to root cause. This empowers businesses by simplifying event management and providing teams with the whole picture of how their applications are performing. The end goal? To create a truly unified observability solution—bringing together core observability workflows as they interweave logging, metrics and tracing data. ServiceNow takes things even further by unifying the vast (but all-too-often fractured) technology estate, so enterprise customers can manage everything through a single platform.
Cloud Observability's capabilities scale seamlessly to match business needs, offering features like notebooks, OpenTelemetry support for vendor neutrality, a powerful Correlation Engine, Unified Query Language (UQL) across data types, native cloud-native logging capabilities, actionable alerts, unified dashboards and service mapping for cloud-native environments.
Make the shift from reactive troubleshooting to proactive optimisation of applications; try ServiceNow Cloud Observability today!