Application Performance Management Implementation ServiceApplication Performance Management Implementation Service
Successful application performance management (APM), the ongoing monitoring and improvement of application performance to meet business needs, revolves around what really matters – the user experience. NetForecast’s APM Implementation Service helps you assess your current APM practices, understand your users’ true performance experience, and implement user-centric methods for ensuring and continuously improving application performance. NetForecast’s APM methodology uniquely focuses on the real user experience as reported using the Apdex application performance index standard.
If your operation is like most, you must ensure that applications perform well over the network – but that is challenging. Chances are that you have some unhappy users, problem solving is more reactive than you would like, and resources to proactively manage application performance are tight. What’s needed is a strategy to protect and improve the user experience and make application performance management so efficient and effective that it can be done well within your tight resource and time constraints.
NetForecast’s APM Implementation Service helps you overcome common APM challenges. The service consists of four service components that can be purchased separately. A comprehensive APM Implementation Service engagement begins with an APM Best Practices Benchmark and a User Experience Assessment to fully evaluate your current situation and identify areas needing attention. Once the initial evaluation is complete, NetForecast works with your team to create an Apdex Implementation Plan. Following the start of implementation, NetForecast provides Continuous Improvement Support to ensure that your implementation remains on track.
Figure 1 – NetForecast’s APM Implementation Service Components
The APM Best Practices Benchmark delivers an independent assessment of how well your organization is addressing application performance management. Specifically, we assess how well your organization is performing each of four APM best practices in the APM Continuous Improvement Cycle shown in Figure 2:
NetForecast also identifies areas that need improvement, and we provide data that can be used to justify changes and budget requests. Excellent best practice benchmarks lead to better APM. In fact, our data show that improving your benchmarks also improves your APM metrics. But you need to know your benchmark scores before you can begin to change things and achieve the best outcome.
Figure 2 – APM Continuous Improvement Cycle
What We Do: NetForecast works with your organization to identify key staff and critical performance objectives. We then conduct a Web-based survey of your staff. This work, which generally takes two weeks, has a very low impact on your organization and requires minimal staff time.
The end result is a rating on a 1-to-10 scale (10 = best) for each of the best practices, as well as an overall benchmark rating. These ratings enable you to compare your best practices with a database of results from more than 300 other companies. The benchmark results allow you to see where your current practices are strong, and where they need attention.
NetForecast’s User Experience Assessment measures the performance of your mission-critical applications and presents the results using the Apdex standard that reflects the true user experience. Apdex enables you to quantify the degree to which the average response times presented in typical measurement tool reports portray an unrealistically optimistic picture of the performance your users actually experience (as illustrated in figure 3). The goals of the User Experience Assessment are to identify specific performance problems, and to provide insight into such issues as why users might be complaining when no problems are evident.
Figure 3 – Application Performance “Reality” Gap
What We Do: NetForecast gathers measurements using automated test tools. If the application(s) to be tested involve Internet-accessible Web-enabled applications, we use URL(s) for the applications to be tested, and for internal applications NetForecast places test software in your enterprise. Alternatively, we can analyze your existing measurement data. The tests run for approximately two weeks, after which test results are summarized in a presentation briefing that is delivered via a telephone conference. The briefing generally occurs within one month of the start of the User Experience Assessment process. The User Experience Assessment requires minimal staff time and involvement.
NetForecast’s Apdex Implementation provides a structured process to implement Apdex within your organization. During this process, NetForecast works with your team to: address deficiencies identified in the APM Best Practices Benchmark and the User Experience Assessment; initiate Apdex reporting; identify action items and staffing responsibilities; and deliver an Apdex roll-out plan specific to your organization.
What We Do: After an initial project kickoff call, NetForecast works with your organization to gather data about application stakeholders’ needs, business drivers, measurement capabilities and application scope. The data gathering can be accomplished via telephone or in person. NetForecast then holds a two-day on-site strategy workshop during which the project team prepares to apply Apdex methodology to a pilot application, selects measurement tools, reaches consensus on performance thresholds, and defines Apdex validation and delivery steps. Following the strategy workshop, NetForecast delivers an Apdex implementation plan that maps your course for deploying and using Apdex methodology within your organization.
Figure 4 – Application Implementation Process
NetForecast’s Continuous Improvement Support provides one year of guidance to help you stay on track with and resolve issues regarding your Apdex implementation.
What We Do: During the one-year continuous improvement period, NetForecast is available to answer APM-related questions via email and telephone. Three months after initial Apdex implementation, your team provides Apdex reports for the pilot application to NetForecast. NetForecast then facilitates a pilot assessment meeting during which NetForecast and your team: assess the quality of the Apdex reports; assess implementation progress; discuss additional applications to be added; and make recommendations for the remaining nine months.
At the one-year mark, your team shares the reports for all of the applications reported using Apdex. NetForecast works with your team to complete a follow-up APM best practices benchmark analysis. NetForecast then holds a one-day on-site final project evaluation meeting during which the project team: evaluates the Apdex report quality; evaluates progress against the implementation plan; answers such questions as, “Were benchmark gaps closed?,” “Has IT/business linkage improved?,” and “Were there quality and process improvements?” At the end of the project evaluation meeting, NetForecast makes recommendations for the future, and helps set subsequent goals.
Figure 5 – Sample APM Best Practices Benchmarks
NetForecast works with its clients to incorporate unique client needs into a statement of work that is then delivered under a fixed-price contract. Contact Peter Sevcik at (434 249 1310) or peter@netforecast.com to discuss your needs.