Larry Dragich

The "Butterfly Effect" theoretically describes a hurricane's formation being contingent on whether or not a distant butterfly had flapped its wings weeks before. This highlights a sensitive dependence on environmental conditions where a small change at one place (Dev Env) can result in large differences to a later state (Production). Consider the possibility that a small innocuous code change could go undetected, promoted through Development & QA, and then have catastrophic effects on performance once it reaches production. The environmental variants need to be minimized and closely monitored to prevent the anomalous behavior. Depending on transaction volume and performance characteristics there will be a certain level of noise that will need to be squelched to a volume level that can be analyzed. This is the precipice where APM intersects Capacity Management and a... (more)

APM & MoM - Symbiotic Solution Sets

Maximum productivity can be achieved more efficiently through event correlation, system automation and predictive analysis. Making that a reality however, requires consideration on how to manage the integration touch points from multiple toolsets and openness to the intrinsic value that this integration can provide. A focus on integration techniques, and not necessarily the monitoring technologies themselves, may be a better use of time to achieve a state of harmony within the event to incident flow. When rolling out an Application Performance Management (APM) solution, selectio... (more)

An APM Solution: Well-Grounded

A look into ITIL's Continual Service Improvement (CSI) model and the Application Performance Management (APM) framework indicates they are both focused on improvement. I see them as being two sides of the same coin. APM defines the approach and toolsets that CSI uses while leveraging specific processes in Service Design, Service Transition, and Service Operation. If you’re thinking about how to build a sustainable APM solution and how it can be anchored into the IT culture, consider focusing on the integration touch points with existing IT processes. Within the CSI model there ar... (more)

Charmed by the Deep Insights of APM

In a perfect world, APM has all the right elements in place, providing value to the business and IT by giving us the metrics we need and showing us the health of our applications. It alerts us to anomalies when slowdowns occur, and shows us trends on performance. But there are other elements in play that can make the operations a little smoother and our days a little brighter. Having the ability to engage in a fact based conversation about the end-user-experience, instead of “spinning” infrastructure metrics and making assumptions about performance, is an elegant proficiency. Taki... (more)

APM: Running with a Renegade - DevOps

Much like electricity, APM will take the path of least resistance when entering into an organization, attracted to the area with the strongest need; lightning, as soon as it is triggered, needs to find ground. It may be brought in to help resuscitate an application that has recently become lethargic or assist the team in rehabilitating an intrinsic codebase. Once the goal is attained however, the propensity to pigeonhole APM as a point solution is high. Now contrast this with DevOps, which is moving forward with a momentum permeating IT and giving us a means to change the way we... (more)