ASG: Distinctively Positioned to Optimize Web Application Performance

ASG: Distinctively Positioned to
Optimize Web Application Performance ®An ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES (EMAT) White Paper Prepared for ASG Software Solutions
May 2009
IT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,INDUSTRY ANALYSIS AND CONSULTINGIT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,INDUSTRY ANALYSIS AND CONSULTING
Table of ContentsIntroduction...........................................................................................................................................................1
Background............................................................................................................................................................2
Industry Overview: Application Performance Management Technologies and Methodologies...........4
ASG and APM ......................................................................................................................................................6
ASG Business Service PortfolioT (BSPT) Enterprise Performance Management .............................8
Summary.............................................................................................................................................................. 11
EMA Perspective................................................................................................................................................ 13
ASG: Distinctively Positioned to Optimize Web Application Performance ©2009 Enterprise Management Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.IT MANAGEMENT RESEARCH,INDUSTRY ANALYSIS AND CONSULTING
IntroductionTraditionally, the role of Information Technology (IT) has been to deploy and manage technology. While IT's value was recognized, it was viewed as a cost center. Technology expenditures were regarded as a cost of doing business, just like paying taxes or keeping the books. However, while IT was busy with bits and bytes, business executives began to see the competitive and revenue potential of eBusiness and corporate Web applications. This drove a paradigm shift in which the business became a driver for IT innovation and investments. No longer viewed simply as a cost No longer viewed simply as center, IT has become a revenue generator for some companies, a cost center, IT has become and for others it is the business. a revenue generator for some companies, and for Web applications and performance have become strategic weap-others it is the business. ons in the ongoing battle for market share. Visitors to the Rolex site (http://www.rolex.com/en/), for example, expect to see an engaging, high-resolution page, not an old-fashioned HTML form. Visitors to the BMW home page (http://www.bmw.com/) expect quick response time and lack the patience to wait 30 seconds for a screen to paint. In the same way that glossy ads and high-profile sponsorships have traditionally helped build brand awareness and brand equity, Web sites and performance fill a similar role. Because of this, CIOs whose teams consistently deliver applications that meet or exceed user expectations contribute direct business value, and the converse is true as well.CIOs and IT engineers alike are still in the process of transitioning to this pivotal role. Making the transition from a technology to an application focus is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Not only does it require new skills-skills that are much more cross-functional than the silo-based skills of the past-it also requires more robust support processes and tools. Managing infrastruc-ture requires expertise and products aimed at gathering and analyzing information about discrete technology verticals. Managing applications requires cross-functional skills and comprehensive solutions capable of combining metrics from multiple sources into a consolidated view of applica-tion execution.Providing this consolidated view is the role of a new breed of products called Application Performance Management (APM) solutions. Such solutions have a dual role. One is to "translate" technology metrics into an approximation of the user experience. This is a complex proposition and is still a "work in progress" industry-wide. Another is to provide a foundation for triage in cases where applications degrade or fail. This requirement means that the user experience must be maintained in context to the application's supporting infrastructure. This requires a new generation of m... [download for more]