Nastel's AutoPilot Makes Showing at Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2010

Nastel was discussed in a Magic Quadrant report issued by Gartner in February 2010. Now, AutoPilot's ability to meet the needs of application performance monitoring was presented at the Gartner Symposium, APM Magic Quadrant, held in Orlando, FL between October 17-21, 2010.

The reason application performance monitoring is so important is the fact that IT systems have become increasingly complex. Not only do 1960s legacy applications need to co-exist in some settings with distributed and loosely coupled SOA-based applications, they also have to integrate functions with public and private cloud-based applications. Without application performance monitoring this new application landscape is a situation waiting to "blow up."

Decreasing availability, reliability and performance are a constant concern as complexity rises. Today, on-premises application management architecture has multiple layers. More layers are added as cloud-based architecture is implemented. The tools that manage these separate layers aren't designed to manage the other layers.

Transparency into the transactions that traverse interdependent applications is essential for planning, maintaining, building and running a dependable IT application environment. A tool is needed to automatically discover, map and monitor the availability and performance of these many applications whether on-premises or cloud-based - or both. AutoPilot is a visionary leader in providing this service.

The Big Picture for Application Performance Monitoring

There are at least four separate layers in the typical IT configuration today that must be managed simultaneously in order for an application environment to operate smoothly. There is the information layer (customer service layer where orders are placed, product catalogs are updated, customers are notified, delivery is arranged, then completed). Then there is the application layer (Java, .NET composite applications; SAP, Oracle, Exchange and other packaged applications; COBOL and legacy applications). Then there is the Message-Oriented Middleware or PaaS application infrastructure layer (Web services, application servers, transaction middleware, database management systems, portals). Then finally there is the system infrastructure or IaaS layer (servers, storage, network, databases, desktops and clients).

Each one of these layers needs to be managed continuously for multiple issues. There are the common rules and policies that each layer must adhere to. There is a need to monitor availability and performance across all four layers.

This results in the need for an application management tool that provides end-to-end visibility into every transaction, across all tiers including the cloud. A solution, such as AutoPilot that includes the added benefit of application transaction profiling means resource usage data collected from all the separate components during deep-dive functions provides valuable insights into end-to-end response time and availability. This makes is far easier to modify transaction behavior or engage in realistic capacity planning.

End-to-end visibility also takes the mystery out of composite application management. When unexpected transaction behavior occurs correlation of collected transaction data points to the source of trouble, reducing the mean time to know (MTTK).

Multi-dimensional Application Performance Monitoring

This is why multidimensional application monitoring is vital and why Nastel's AutoPilot focuses on the five architectural elements needed to provide multidimensional coverage.

1)      AutoPilot provides end-user experience monitoring. This helps a business understand how the user is experiencing its application or service.

2)      AutoPilot has the application component deep dive built into its core complex event processing engine. It transverses every application through every layer, recording every detail along the way. From end-to-end, no transaction can hide. If it gets lost, AutoPilot knows where it's gone.

3)      AutoPilot uses application-determined logical topology. This means it is able to discover all applications present and has the capability to infer from the applications which are used for various applications what the application model is.

4)      AutoPilot is especially strong in the area of business transaction management. Its ability to track billions of multiple transaction types consistently across the IT environment means that managing transactions in real-time is attainable. The information needed to keep applications performing dependably at peak levels is available 24/7.

5)      AutoPilot also handles the huge databases required to provide application performance management. These huge data sets are correlated via its complex event processing engine.

Application performance monitoring is going to become more important than ever over the next five years. By 2015, Gartner predicts that "more than 50% of enterprises will need capabilities beyond those delivered by APM tools in 2010."

Gartner recognized Nastel earlier this year as one of the leading visionaries in the area of application performance monitoring. New cutting-edge versions of AutoPilot are already in the market to meet the need for solutions that provide APM for IT landscapes comprised of distributed and modular application/infrastructures.

 This is a company that has already been providing business transaction management solutions for major retailers, banks, manufacturers, insurance companies and the health industry since the 1990s. As it has strengthened its ability to provide multidimensional coverage, this powerful business IT management solution has continued to become even better.

• tags:
• applicationperformance
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• businesstransaction
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• APM
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• CEP
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• BTM

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