Application monitoring plays a crucial role in ensuring that applications meet performance expectations and provide a positive end-user experience. With the evolving landscape of application monitoring software, it’s important for businesses to understand the different types of monitoring and best practices to implement. This article explores the various approaches to application monitoring and provides insights into the best practices to follow.

Types of Application Monitoring

When it comes to application monitoring, different organizations have different needs. Here are some of the key types of monitoring:

1. Digital experience monitoring: This type of monitoring focuses on gathering performance metrics from the end-user device to troubleshoot and resolve frontend issues promptly.
2. Application monitoring: This involves monitoring the entire application stack, including the application framework, operating system, database, APIs, middleware, web application server, and user interface. It also includes IT infrastructure monitoring.
3. Database monitoring: This type of monitoring samples the performance of SQL queries or procedures and monitors the dataset provided by application monitoring agents.
4. Availability monitoring: It focuses on monitoring the actual availability of the application and hardware components.
5. Performance monitoring: This type of monitoring measures response time and real-time application data to identify performance issues in a proactive manner.
6. Resource monitoring: It tracks resource usage, such as CPU, memory, and storage, to optimize the use of application resources and ensure efficient operation.
7. Security monitoring: This type of monitoring is used to detect security vulnerabilities and threats, protecting sensitive data and ensuring compliance.

What to Look for in APM Tools

When choosing an application performance monitoring (APM) tool, consider the following features:

• Full-stack observability: Look for a solution that provides a comprehensive view of your entire environment and all dependencies to understand how everything functions together.
• Automation: Choose a tool that leverages automation to reduce the manual workload and keep up with the complexity of modern environments.
• Scalability: Ensure that the tool can scale seamlessly as your business grows and handle data from across your environment.
• Root cause analysis and remediation: Look for a tool that automatically detects issues, provides relevant information in context, and helps address them quickly.
• Integration capabilities: Consider how well the tool integrates with other monitoring tools and deployment options.

Application Monitoring Best Practices

To achieve optimal application performance and maintain the health of your IT environment, follow these best practices:

Establish clear performance goals:

Set measurable performance goals and regularly monitor and analyze performance data to gauge progress.

Monitor the appropriate metrics:

Focus on tracking the metrics that are most relevant to your goals, such as CPU usage, error rates, response times, request rates, and user experience data/feedback.

Set up customized alerts and notifications:

Create customized alerts and notifications based on performance thresholds to notify relevant team members and address issues promptly.

Build with security and compliance in mind:

Ensure that security and compliance are priorities in your monitoring strategy by implementing necessary tools and processes.

Leverage automation:

Take advantage of APM tools that leverage automation to analyze logs, perform root cause analysis, and provide suggestions for remediation.

Application Monitoring Solutions

Two recommended application monitoring solutions are IBM Instana Observability and IBM Turbonomic:

Instana’s automated observability platform delivers high-fidelity data and end-to-end traces to rapidly identify and address issues. It provides a comprehensive view of application performance across mobile, web, applications, and infrastructure.

Turbonomic’s hybrid cloud cost optimization platform optimizes application resourcing by automatically providing the necessary resources for efficient operation.

By understanding the different types of monitoring and following best practices, businesses can ensure optimal application performance and meet end-user expectations.

FAQs

What is application monitoring?

Application monitoring involves measuring application performance, security, and compliance to ensure that applications meet performance expectations and provide a positive end-user experience.

Why is application monitoring important?

Application monitoring is important to identify and resolve performance issues, track resource usage, detect security vulnerabilities, and ensure compliance with industry regulations. It helps businesses maintain optimal application performance and meet end-user expectations.

What are the different types of application monitoring?

There are various types of application monitoring, including:

• Digital experience monitoring
• Application monitoring
• Database monitoring
• Availability monitoring
• Performance monitoring
• Resource monitoring
• Security monitoring

What are some best practices for application monitoring?

Some best practices for application monitoring include establishing clear performance goals, monitoring relevant metrics, setting up customized alerts, focusing on security and compliance, and leveraging automation to streamline monitoring processes.