What To Look For In Application Performance?

Application performance could be gauged in terms of its ease of use, and the user experience affords. However, there are other components within performance of an application that may be more preferred above others.

Application performance needs to be studied in context of the transaction that the application is being used for. Performance can be outlined in terms of business requirement. These can include essentials such as number of users expected, response time, end-user experience, working together with other applications, etc.

Designed for the Cloud

Most small businesses are turning to the Cloud for the advantages it offers. You may need to ensure that your application performance will not be affected by working in the Cloud. Cloud apps need different infrastructure and you may need to check whether it is in place or not; pay special attention to tier dependencies in the case of complex apps.

Check infrastructure and application interplay

The performance of your application is dependent on both, the platform it runs on, as well as the infrastructure supporting the platform. If you want optimum performance, you must not forget storage capacity; without adequate storage, it is nearly impossible to have an application performing at its peak.

End-user experience

For applications involved in active transactions, it is worthwhile to check out the end-user experience as well. Applications designed around the transaction they are supposed to carry out, have a better chance of delivering on expectation regarding performance. This is especially true in the face of new technologies that are constantly emerging.

Application Performance For Service Assurance

Application performance monitoring is done as much to ensure optimal performance, as to ensure service assurance. At a time when customers take to social media to air grievances, ensuring application performance is critical for businesses. Fortunately, timely monitoring can help ensure optimal application performance.

Several elements form the basis for successful application performance, especially in customer-centric businesses.

• Effective operations, keeping in mind the customer experience
• Effective management of the customer experience of the application and its performance
• Timely troubleshooting as and when needed
• Simplify your own IT management and help you streamline the function, with the least amount of hassles and low costs

How well your applications perform, and what is their contribution to the user experience will play a huge role in determining the trust your customers place in your business. Thus, application performance automatically impacts business and profitability.

How to ensure service assurance?

Choosing a performance monitoring tool for your applications can be one of the first steps. Comprehensive and real-time monitoring could help you keep track of the way in which your applications are performing. Monitor and watch out for the following factors:

• Complexity: Too much complexity can be troublesome. However, in case it cannot be helped, your monitoring tool needs to be able to cut through all of it to be able to review comprehensively and also spot hidden issues
• Reporting: To be totally effective, monitoring tools need to be able to spot the issue, analyze it, and be able to report on it. The reporting should be timely; it needs you to be able to resolve it and firefight, if needed
• A comprehensive monitoring tool will allow you adequate time to resolve the problem before it reaches shut-down stage

Analyzing Application Monitoring

If you were to analyze and dissect application monitoring, you would see that there really is no single answer to the question about what influences it. When undertaking monitoring, it is important to remember that most applications do not work in isolation. There is an interdependent maze that most applications operate within. This maze includes other applications as well as the software platform used.

Application monitoring may need to take into consideration the hardware details of the system as well. Factors such as hardware performance, capacity and speed can affect application performance. Further, if the platform on which the application runs, develops a problem, application monitoring alone may not be able to help.

Application monitoring, thus, is not just about the state of the application; it is equally about optimal performance. Optimized performance is not just about the functioning of a single application, it is about how all the different elements related to an application interact and engage to finally enable the application to perform.

Application monitoring may need to go as in-depth as the levels of coding. At times, comprehensive application monitoring may take into account the kind of coding undertaken in writing the application. Apart from coding, application performance monitoring will also take into account the loads that the application will handle. Load testing is a significant aspect of comprehensive application monitoring.

As networked environments grow in complexity, workloads are increasing at an unprecedented rate. The widespread adoption of different devices such as smart phones and other handheld communication devices is also aiding in increased virtualization. As a result, application monitoring now has greater grounds to cover.

When undertaking monitoring, it is worthwhile taking everything that touches the application into consideration.

Application Performance And The Challenges To Testing

Performance testing is vital throughout the lifestyle of any application. However, if done in the early stages of application development, it can help save organizations a significant amount of costs and efforts that may need to be put in at a later stage. Often, in the initial stages, pressures for quick deployment lead to rigorous performance testing being put off, or postponed for a later stage.

Reviewing performance of any application has to be an ongoing process, because despite rigorous testing, the real world throws up challenges that may be unusual or not understood previously. Even after different reviews and tests are conducted on particular software, assessing its efficacy in the real world can be a challenge, given network conditions and user behavior. Probably one of the biggest challenges faced by experts is accurately predicting application performance on the basis of its testing.

Not integrating product development with performance

Not many developers understand the need to integrate performance in the development and deployment plan for an application. As a result, performance testing gets jeopardized, beginning with development of the application. Also, the application may lose out on the benefits of performance testing applied in initial stages, costing the organization a lot more in poor performance or frequent performance glitches in the later stages. This can get compounded depending on which stage of its lifecycle the product is at. At post-deployment stage, the costs and efforts of fixing software issues can be high enough to cause significant damage in terms of money, and worse, user experience and loyalty.

Application Monitoring Should Encompass Application Performance Management In Totality

Management or review of application performance can often be incomplete because it tends to concentrate on the process of monitoring alone, and not for errors that may be expected or anticipated to occur in the lifecycle of the application. One of the reasons for this could be that anticipating problems or errors is never an easy task. Further, problems that do not have a precedent are often not easy to predict. Application monitoring is an intrinsic part of performance management, but it cannot prevent issues and application failures by itself, but if it is applied in a thorough manner, it may help raise timely alerts and reveal corrective measures that could be taken.

Elements to take care of, when managing application performance

Performance management needs to focus on whether the application will meet its end-user expectations or not. Outline application expectations, if needed, before going ahead with the monitoring agenda. Application monitoring will work best when it goes hand-in-hand with end-user expectations. Understanding user expectations will also help you outline a monitoring plan that will take precise as well as overall care of all the most important areas within the application. Another advantage to outlining user expectations is to ensure that you have all the monitoring tools in place. This will also ensure optimizing of the application monitoring process itself.

Remember to also measure the impact of application monitoring on the performance of the application, versus the results in case there is no monitoring in place.

How to determine the ideal time for application monitoring?

There is no fixed way by which to determine the right time to begin application monitoring. However, certain elements can become pointers.

> Over utilization: If an application is being utilized above its core capabilities, it may utilize more memory and need monitoring to pinpoint the precise problem. Over utilization may occur in terms of usage time or the number of users accessing it at any given time.

> System crash: At times, errors may occur unexpectedly. This can result in sudden breakdown or total stopping of the application's functions. Application monitoring that is thorough and comprehensive can catch a potential error before it brings about a complete system breakdown.

> Software failure: Software failures can be major contributors to application breakdown. However, regular monitoring can help raise timely alerts and allow you to take corrective action before the software fails entirely.

> Regular updates: If your software is not updated regularly, it can remain vulnerable to threats such as virus attacks or even hardware failure and configuration problems. Application monitoring can help determine critical updates needed and raise timely alerts so that appropriate action can be taken.

Critical elements

Application monitoring should cover everything, from server downtime to software, to processes and services, as well as hardware. Application monitoring can also include configuration changes. Application monitoring must be implemented keeping in mind it must be kept in mind that costs incurred in repairs and maintenance could be significantly higher than those incurred in monitoring.

About the Author:

Tevron develops and delivers Application Monitoring Solutions, Service Level Agreement, Automated Testing Solutions, and End to End Performance monitoring solutions available globally. Tevron has also successfully delivered enterprise Application Monitoring Solutions and Testing solutions to support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers across the globe. Tevron's solutions designed to support diverse environments, business processes and applications with a service oriented management.

Application Monitoring For Improved Application Performance

Application monitoring and application performance management is relevant to most businesses today, and with good reason.

Profitability is the watchword for every business, regardless of industry. For businesses engaged in service-focused work, efficiency of applications, their monitoring and performance is of special importance. Regular application monitoring and maintenance for ensuring sound performance is a necessary ingredient for maintaining smooth operations.

As of now, there are many diverse kinds of enterprise applications globally; there are an equally large number of updates taking place for all these applications. If adequate application monitoring and resulting repairs are not undertaken for these, it can have a direct bearing on performance of these applications too.

When conducted well application monitoring can provide pointers to the application's health and boost its performance; thus helping services perform better, overall. Regardless of the industry, an application that performs well leads to better end-user experience and ultimately results in optimal utilization of time and resources.

What kinds of applications need monitoring for performance?

Any business that needs to have its applications performing consistently well needs sound monitoring and regular maintenance checks for optimal performance. Such businesses will need to ensure that their servers regularly clock high uptimes with reduced interruptions or problems. Further, an interruption for some applications can often mean starting at the beginning. This leads to loss of time; and users can lose interest in the application, especially in the case of commercial applications.

To prevent such losses in productivity, applications should be studied and regular monitoring carried out for the servers, the database, web and cloud services, if applicable, and virtual monitoring, ideally to ensure high performance.

Consistent application monitoring ensures troubleshooting and maintenance of operations while also highlighting trouble areas or inconsistencies in performance. This in turn, allows application managers and the technical workforce to run repairs and conduct maintenance checks in a more systematic and informed manner. For applications that are used commercially, this also helps keep a check on the end user experience and its improvement.

Thankfully, good application monitoring and application performance monitoring systems are available easily. These can be of several types, depending on the requirements of the business. The ideal enterprise application monitoring systems are those that can test and check performance end to end. A good monitoring system will test performances for IT enterprise applications, including end to end performance and compliance with the service level agreement.

Application monitoring can extend to transaction monitoring, real-time alerts, application availability, and more; all functions related to testing the performance.

Further, for applications supporting a large user base, a single-point monitor works better at monitoring it and mapping application performance. Such solutions are better because they do not disrupt user sessions. Repairs as indicated by performance reports, can also be conducted without interruptions in user interface or without impacting user-friendliness.

About the Author:

Tevron develops and delivers powerful and comprehensive Application Monitoring Solutions, Service Level Agreement, Application Performance, IT Services Management and Automated Testing Solutions available globally. Tevron has also successfully delivered enterprise Application Monitoring Solutions and Testing solutions to support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers across the globe. Tevron focuses on solutions that are scalable, flexible, and easy to maintain; they are also designed to support diverse environments, business processes and applications with a service oriented management.

Effective Application Performance Testing

Performance testing is not yet an established practice; it is a field that is emerging and soon would be an essential part of software engineering. It aims to evaluate system performance in terms of its ability to respond and continue to perform under specific conditions.

Performance testing can also be undertaken to determine how a system or application is performing in terms of resources consumption, time taken to complete one process or to check responses to certain tests it may be subjected to.

There are different types of application performance testing:

Configuration test: This is carried out to determine performance changes as a result of alterations in the system configuration or configuration of its parts.

Endurance test: Endurance tests examine application behavior and response under sustained activity or workload periods. Any decrease in performance quality or response time is noted. It is usually measured against values recorded at the beginning of the testing.

Load test: This test includes testing the application for its performance after specifying a number of users carrying out operations within a given time. This test can detect problems in the application software, depending on the criteria being tested.

Stress test: The stress test determines the extent to which the application can manage excess workload while continuing to perform at its optimal values. It helps to evaluate application performance, especially when expected load overshoots normal limits.

Another version of testing with increased workloads is called spike testing, where performance is evaluated while subjecting the system to unexpected spurts of high workload levels. Spike tests help determine whether the system will handle the sudden increase or fail.

Reliable performance testing

There are various performance testing tools and software to carry out reliable performance reviews. An ideal solution for performance testing should cover end-to-end performance of the system or application as well as evaluate it on the basis of real-time user experience. It should also determine whether the Service Level Agreement is being followed or not, as well as monitor the availability of critical applications and their performance before end users face problems.

The ideal performance testing software will not only detect problems, it will also generate an alert that will allow the system administrators to reach out and correct the error before detection by end-users.

About the Author:

Tevron develops and delivers powerful and comprehensive application performance solutions, service level agreement, end to end performance, and performance testing solutions available globally. Tevron has also successfully delivered enterprise application monitoring solutions and testing solutions to support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers across the globe. Tevron's solutions are scalable, flexible, and easy to maintain; they are also designed to support diverse environments, business processes and applications with a service oriented management.

Tevron Adds Full Support For Microsoft Windows 8

Nashua, New Hampshire - Tevron today announced the addition of support for Microsoft Windows 8 to its suite of ETE Monitoring & Testing solutions. Windows 8 delivers a brand new user interface, Windows to Go, Windows Store, Internet Explorer 10 and much more.

With the latest releases of CitraTest, CitraTest APM, and CitraTest VU, Tevron again is taking the lead role in the ETE Monitoring & testing industry in providing support for every Windows environment including Windows 8 and every application that is accessible from a Windows machine. As companies across the world upgrade to the Windows 8 operating environment, Tevron's ETE Monitoring & testing solutions will continue to offer the industry lead for application monitoring, load testing, and general automation.

To learn more about Tevron's automated testing solutions or to request additional information, please call +1.866.788.3650 or visit http://www.tevron.com.

About Tevron

Tevron® is a global leader in APM and Automated Testing. Through our all encompassing customer-centric vision and advanced technology, our APM & Testing Solutions allow the unique flexibility of supporting every application across the enterprise with one methodology delivering the ability to test, monitor, enforce SLAs, and optimize performance with confidence and ease. Founded in 2001, Tevron® is a global organization and is privately held. Our vast and diverse range of customers are global leaders and include companies such as Alcon Labs, Alverno, Northrop Grumman, Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, and USPTO, to name a few.

Trademarks

Tevron, the Tevron logo, and CitraTest are registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. Windows 8 is a registered trademark of Microsoft. All other product references herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information:

North America (HQ)
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +1 866.788.3650

EMEA
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +44 (0) 2033 184 432

Germany
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +49 (0) 698 088 4043

Leading Edge Healthcare Service Provider Selects Tevron for its Application Monitoring & Testing Requirements

Nashua, NH. USA - February 21, 2011 – Tevron, the leader in IT performance and availability monitoring & testing solutions, announced today that one of the leading health services companies that provides patients with a wide range of integrated health care services, including medical diagnosis and treatment, health education, self-care products, and services with over 8,000 employees, deployed CitraTest APM (http://www.tevron.com/citratest-apm.asp) & CitraTest (http://www.tevron.com/citratest.asp) across their US locations for the monitoring and testing of all of their mission critical business & medical applications.

Tevron was selected based on their powerful & flexible IT monitoring technology that fully supports every one of their very complex business applications (Epic, Web) and environments (Windows 7, Windows XP, RDP). Having one enterprise monitoring solution that intelligently supports every application is invaluable. Unlike the products from other vendors, Tevron offers a tightly integrated, simplified and scalable solution that meets the needs of their complex healthcare business and their ever changing technologies.

About Tevron (http://www.tevron.com)

Tevron® is a global software company that develops and delivers the most powerful and comprehensive suite of End To End performance, Application Monitoring Solutions, SLA (Service Level Agreement) and Automated Testing Solutions available in the world today. Tevron has successfully delivered enterprise APM & Testing solutions that support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers worldwide.

Tevron, CitraTest APM, and the Tevron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

© 2011 Tevron, LLC. all rights reserved.

For more information:

North America (HQ)
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +1 702.518.7435

EMEA
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +44 (0) 2089 066 591

Germany
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +49 (0) 800 664 6695

Fortune-200 Pharmaceuticals Company Selects Tevron for its Application Monitoring Requirements

Nashua, NH. USA - Tevron, the leader in IT performance and availability monitoring solutions, announced today that one of the world's largest Pharmaceutical companies with over 100,000 employees, deployed CitraTest APM (http://www.tevron.com/citratest-apm.asp) across all of their global locations for the monitoring and testing of all of their mission critical business & pharmaceutical applications.

Tevron was selected based on their powerful & flexible IT monitoring technology that fully supports every one of their very complex business applications (Web, Thick Client, Oracle) and environments (VMWare, Windows 7, Windows XP, Citrix, RDP). These business critical applications cover the various therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular and metabolism, oncology, neuroscience and ophthalmics, respiratory, and immunology and infectious diseases. Having one enterprise monitoring solution that intelligently supports every application is invaluable. Unlike the products from other vendors, Tevron offers a tightly integrated, simplified and scalable solution that meets the needs of their complex business and their ever changing technologies.

About Tevron (http://www.tevron.com)

Tevron is a global software company that develops and delivers the most powerful and comprehensive suite of End To End performance, Application Monitoring Solutions, SLA (Service Level Agreement) and Automated Testing Solutions available in the world today. Tevron has successfully delivered enterprise APM & Testing solutions that support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers worldwide.

Tevron, CitraTest APM, and the Tevron logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. All other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

© 2011 Tevron, LLC. all rights reserved.

For more information:
North America (HQ)
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +1 702.518.7435

EMEA
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +44 (0) 2089 066 591

Germany
Tevron, LLC
Phone: +49 (0) 800 664 6695

Tevron APM & Testing Solutions Fully Support all Cloud Computing Environments

Nashua, New Hampshire, January 3, 2011 – Tevron today announced the addition of support for all Cloud Computing applications & environments to its suite of APM & Testing solutions. Cloud Computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, Service oriented architecture and utility computing. These environments include Cloud offerings from Amazon, Rackspace, Saleforce, Microsoft, Google, VMWare, NetApp and Citrix Systems. With the latest releases of CitraTest, CitraTest APM, and CitraTest VU, Tevron again is taking the lead role in the APM & testing industry in providing support for every Cloud Computing applications & environments. As enterprises move toward Cloud Based Computing, Tevron’s APM & testing solutions will continue to offer the industry lead for application monitoring, load testing, and general automation for those critical deployments. “Assessing quality of service and measuring / enforcing service level agreements (SLAs) are critical requirements for every enterprise Cloud Computing deployment. Tevron’s solutions deliver this capability and more to ensure a quality & productive user experience,” says Jay Labadini, Vice President.

To learn more about Tevron’s automated testing & monitoring solutions or to request additional information, please call +1.702.518.7435, email sales@tevron.com or visit http://www.tevron.com.

ABOUT TEVRON

Tevron® is a global leader in APM and Automated Testing. Through our all encompassing customer-centric vision and advanced technology, our APM & Testing Solutions allow the unique flexibility of supporting every application across the enterprise with one methodology delivering the ability to test, monitor, enforce SLAs, and optimize performance with confidence and ease. Founded in 2001, Tevron® is a global organization and is privately held. Our vast and diverse range of customers are global leaders and include companies such as Alcon Labs, Alverno, Northrop Grumman, Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, and Lucent Technologies, to name a few.

TRADEMARKS

Tevron, the Tevron logo, and CitraTest are registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. All other product references herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Performance testing: Importance and objectives to keep in mind

Organizations which depend on applications for mission critical activities are increasingly turning to performance testing to overcome bottlenecks. Through effective performance testing, such small and mid-sized businesses can evaluate whether their application performance is up to the established standards. It also helps them in avoiding down time which affects bottom lines of their business. Such a defined performance testing process ensures that all service level agreement conditions are met. The following are some importance and objectives of performance testing to keep in mind.

Importance of Performance Testing

• If mission critical activities depend on applications, performance testing improves the overall quality of services which are provided


• Performance testing is needed to make sure that all applications are running on time so that end users do not face any problem and have a smooth and satisfactory experience


• It also helps in meeting the terms of the service level agreement


• Clients can be satisfied by providing them with a fast and reliable application through performance testing of all important applications

Objectives of Performance Testing

• Helps when IT teams need to compare the performance of multiple applications


• Performance testing minimizes application costs


• Enables faster response time of applications


• Is useful in spotting application bottlenecks and solving them


• Helps in meeting service level agreement terms


• Through performance testing, IT teams can meet application criteria set by a company and its clients

The importance of performance testing in a business setup cannot be over stressed. Most of the small and mid-sized businesses have started using customized packages from experienced vendors for testing their applications. Spotting the need for custom performance testing solutions, a lot of APM vendors have also entered the market. A customized performance testing solution will not only help in spotting and eliminating application performance issues, it will also help with service level agreement conditions.

Thinking of undertaking performance testing for your applications? Some tips to help you out

Performance testing may seem a simple enough task, but it troubles a lot of businesses. When a business owner is asked the reason of undertaking performance testing, he/she might be unable to point to specific reasons. However the main objective of performance testing is to determine application performance in some pre-determined conditions. It helps track the performance of an application, so that the IT department can overcome problems, if any. It can also help IT managers undertake business service management effectively. Performance testing has different purposes for different businesses. They may be:

• Identifying problems in application performance


• Making sure that all applications are of a certain standard


• Comparing application performance of different applications

Some tips for effective performance testing are:

Set specific performance criteria for your applications

Keep your end users in mind when you are setting application performance criteria. You need to meet the expectations of your end users, so keeping them in focus while setting the criteria is very important. Inquire about the problems end users face and the kind of expectations that they have. That way, you will know what your applications need to achieve at the end of performance testing experiments. Most businesses undertaking performance testing have two goals: to meet customer expectations and to meet IT service management goals.

Database is very important for performance testing

Performance testing is usually undertaken by stimulating user sessions and then noting the response times of applications. Load testing is also a part of application performance testing to check the effects and problems, if any, of multiple user sessions. This is especially true in case of businesses which give importance to IT service management. The database has a very high impact on the end user experience. For example, an end user may complete a transaction fast if it is inserted in and empty table, but the response time will be slow once the table grows. The database is hence very important for the performance testing objectives.

Plan for performance testing

If you want the performance testing to be successful, you need to plan in advance. For instance, application performance can be ensured by getting scalable architecture, hardware resources etc. with such strong resources, IT managers can see to it that all applications are performing as per the standards established. A lot of vendors offer custom performance testing solutions, which can help ensure that applications across the organization are working well. Such solutions also help in meeting business service management goals. You should also get to know from end users which applications they use frequently so that you can save time on performance testing of applications which are rarely used.

Reduce application performance issues through strong monitoring tools

When a business provides web services or relies on applications for delivery of services, end users react as soon as there is a problem in application performance. The business will receive calls and emails from end users complaining of lost productivity and depleting revenue as soon as application performance falls below the expected threshold. IT and network managers generally struggle to handle complaints from end users and alerts from monitoring tools at the time of application failure. The main reason for this problem is the deployment of multiple tools within the organization to measure application performance; when applications fail, all of these monitoring tools generate alerts, and IT and network managers struggle to find the root cause amongst so many tools.

Multiple tools for gauging the application performance is a complication that IT and network managers can do without. That is why an end-to-end monitoring tool is required to ensure that downtime can be avoided. Even if applications are down, an end-to-end solution ensures that the root of the problem can be identified quickly and downtime can be minimized. Such a tool can be combined with regular performance testing to ensure that all applications are monitored and end users have a consistent and satisfying experience.

In addition to being an end-to-end solution, a monitoring tool also needs to generate real time alerts so that optimum application performance can be ensured at all times. IT managers can know the performance of all applications through the real-time alerts related to application availability and their response times. Such a monitoring system generally allows managers to establish certain thresholds. When these set thresholds are crossed, the system generates an alert so that IT managers can stop end users from being affected by any problem in the applications. This technique, along with performance testing, can ensure that application performance is up to the par.

The monitoring tool also needs to be consistent and proactive for successfully measuring application performance. Such proactive measures will ensure that any issues with the application can be resolved as soon as possible. Proactive monitoring also means that small problems can be prevented from becoming huge issues, and application performance is optimized. This way, all business-critical applications can function 24/7 without a problem.

Having a monitoring tool which gauges application performance in all the above-mentioned ways helps IT and network managers in making sure that they reduce the number of irate calls from end users about application downtime.

Thinking of undertaking performance testing? Some objectives to keep in mind

Performance testing helps businesses and IT departments to ensure that their systems perform optimally under particular loads. This is especially useful in cases where the applications are critical to the bottom line of the business. Through performance testing, IT professionals can determine how applications perform in certain pre-determined conditions. They can also solve bottlenecks which hamper business service management goals. Performance testing is hence vital in ensuring that all applications are available, stable and speedy when put under load and that service level agreement conditions are met.

Since testing is vital for IT service management, it is crucial to keep its overall objectives in mind when testing your applications. Various performance testing objectives to keep in mind are:

• Improving application performance


• Solving application bottlenecks


• Ensuring that business applications uphold certain standards


• Comparing application performance for two applications


• Minimizing response times of applications


• Assessing the stability and performance of applications


• Ensuring that end users have a smooth experience


• Conforming to the established service level agreement conditions


• Minimizing organization costs through performance testing

Businesses which depend on various applications for revenue-generating activities have increasingly started using performance testing tools to ensure that all applications are fully functional at all times. Performance testing is also included in the business service management goals of all such businesses. Until recently, a business required many testing solutions in order to cover all applications used by it. However, now many APM vendors provide performance testing solutions which cover each and every application across the organization, which makes the process uncomplicated and affordable.

Keeping the above-mentioned performance testing objectives in mind will not only help you get clarity while testing your applications, it will also help you in selecting a testing solution which meets all your testing goals.

Tevron announces the launch of the German version of the Tevron web site

Nashua, USA, March 25 - Tevron, a leader in the application performance and monitoring solutions, announced the launch of the German edition of its main site. Customer can now visit “www.tevron.de” for information about its solutions and services for the German market.

Tevron is a global leader in providing application performance and monitoring solutions and is headquartered in Nashua, NH. The company’s flagship products include CitraTest APM for application performance monitoring and CitraTest VU for performance testing. Tevron’s monitoring solutions are used by companies to ensure that all applications across the organization are up and running optimally. Tevron has successfully delivered monitoring solutions that support every IT enterprise application to hundreds of customers worldwide.

To learn more about Tevron and its solutions, please visit www.tevron.com for the English version and "www.tevron.de" for the German version.

ABOUT TEVRON

Tevron® is a global leader in APM and Automated Testing. Through our all encompassing customer-centric vision and advanced technology, our APM & Testing Solutions allow the unique flexibility of supporting every application across the enterprise with one methodology delivering the ability to test, monitor, enforce SLAs, and optimize performance with confidence and ease. Founded in 2001, Tevron® is a global organization and is privately held. Our vast and diverse range of customers are global leaders and include companies such as Alcon Labs, Alverno, Northrop Grumman, Xerox, Hewlett Packard, Siemens, and Lucent Technologies, to name a few.

TRADEMARKS

Tevron, the Tevron logo, and CitraTest are registered trademarks of Tevron, LLC. Microsoft Dynamics is a registered trademark of Microsoft. All other product references herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Developing a Service Level Agreement? Some Steps to Ensure it is an Effective One

Service level agreements are an important part of business engagements between a client and a service provider. They establish the levels of services that the client expects and the service provider delivers. A service level agreement is especially important for businesses which use applications for business-critical activities. A single malfunction affecting the application performance can have a direct impact on the bottom line of the business. A SLA basically sets the expectation for quality of service which is deliverable and creates a roadmap on how to achieve it. In the later part of the service contract, a SLA can help in IT Service Management as well.

That said, establishing a service level agreement is a complicated process, which needs to be handled properly. Some steps for developing an effective SLA are as follows:

Get the Basic Info Right

The first step to developing an effective service level agreement is gathering the basic info. This needs to be done by both the client and the service provider. Both parties need to ensure that the client’s expectations and the service provider’s deliverables match. If this basic information is not collected properly, the service level agreement is meaningless.

Define the Process for Working Together

This is the most important step of developing a service level agreement. There are bound to be differences in the communication style, expectations and working methods between the client and the service provider, which need to be solved at this stage. Only when there is a defined process of overcoming differences, can an effective service level agreement be chalked out. On the basis of the agreed terms, the client can then go ahead with Business Service Management for his/her business.

Consensus

In many cases, the clients and service providers may have a varied viewpoint on what the service level agreement can achieve. Don’t let the negotiations break down due to your strong viewpoint; keep the possibilities of discussion open so you can develop an effective SLA and meet IT Service Management goals. At this stage, iron out all differences of opinion and develop the SLA further.

Develop the SLA

Next comes developing the structure and content of the service level agreement. This will take up some time, as it consists of discussions and negotiations regarding the terms and conditions to be included in the SLA. After the first draft is created, the people who are responsible from the client and service provider’s side need to review and offer suggestions for it. After all the required revisions are made, the service level agreement can be finalized.

Apply the SLA

Once the service level agreement has been applied, its management is also an important aspect. The client and the service provider should elect a member each, who can be the point of contact in case of any problems related to the SLA. In addition to this, reviews of the SLA and modifications and enhancement in services provided should also be taken care of.

Why should you undertake performance testing for your business applications?

It might seem as a simple enough question, but many businesses have trouble answering it specifically. So why do we undertake performance testing? The answer to that is “To determine the performance of application in certain pre-determined conditions.” By undertaking performance testing for your applications, you can not only track application performance under certain conditions but can also perform IT service management successfully. With performance testing, IT teams can know how an application performs under a particular workload, and solve bottlenecks, if any. The purpose of performance testing may be:

• Identifying application performance bottlenecks
• Ensuring that all business application meet a certain criteria
• Comparing the performance of two applications

Some things to keep in mind while undertaking performance testing of applications are:

Setting precise application performance criteria

While setting application performance criteria, keep the end users in mind always. Performance testing is undertaken for the main purpose of meeting end users expectations; hence the end users’ perspective is very important for performance testing. Interact with end users regarding the problems they face and what their expectations are. Most businesses which undertake performance testing want to ensure that they meet customer expectations as well as meet their business service management goals.

The importance of database in performance testing

IT teams usually undertake performance testing by having simultaneous user sessions and noting the response times of applications. Load testing is also performed on applications to check the effect of multiple simultaneous user sessions. This is crucial for companies which give importance to IT service management. That said, the database has a drastic effect on the end user experience. As an example, a user can have a transaction very fast if it is inserted in an empty table; however, the response time may be slow once the table grows. IT teams hence need to give importance to the database for performance testing of applications.

Plan it properly

Performance testing needs some planning in advance. For example, you can ensure application performance by getting scalable architecture and strong hardware resources for your business. Only after this is taken care of, IT managers check whether all applications are available and working well. This can be done with a performance testing solutions from a trusted vendor. This will also ensure that business service management goals are met with. Interact with end users to get an idea of the applications they use frequently and the kind of problems they face. That way, you can save the time spent on performance testing of applications that are used rarely by users.

Solve Application Performance Bottlenecks Before They Affect End Users

Application performance is perhaps the most important aspect for small or mid-sized businesses which depend on applications for their business. Such businesses have fewer resources and need to make the existing ones work well. It is even more important for small businesses to undertake application monitoring so that bottlenecks in applications can be solved before they start affecting end-users. This is one way of ensuring that application performance is up to the par. Some strategies work really well when application performance needs to be improved before it starts affecting end users. The following are some of them:

Real time view of application performance
The first step IT managers need to take for ensuring application performance is have a monitoring tool through which they can analyze traffic, data flow, transaction details etc. This helps in knowing real time performance of applications as well as the network. If IT managers are able to understand the health of the application and the network, they will be able to pinpoint whether application performance problems are because of the network or due to some other issue. This will also enable proactive application monitoring within the organization. Such real time view of performance of applications will help small business owners in ensuring that business critical applications are always performing optimally.

Transaction monitoring
IT managers can help solve application performance bottlenecks quickly if they are monitoring application transactions. Having a detailed look into transactions can help IT managers know exactly what went wrong and solve the problem quickly, before the problem starts affecting end-users. Transaction monitoring also ensures that small businesses can meet the ever-demanding service level agreement conditions.

Real time alerts
Small and mid-sized businesses should consider using monitoring tools which give real time alerts in case of problems within the application. IT managers who want to improve application performance will need the help of a strong application monitoring tool. Through the monitoring tool, IT managers can establish certain thresholds of acceptable service levels. Establishing this threshold of performance is a very important step in ensuring that application monitoring is perfect. When application performance falls below this threshold, a real time alert is generated, which lets the IT team know that application performance is not up to the par. Such real time alerts pertaining to application performance can help the IT manager in identifying and resolving bottlenecks before end users are impacted.

For small and mid-sized businesses to survive in this tough market, it is vital that business-critical applications are monitored for performance and that application performance bottlenecks are solved before end users or business is affected. Business owners can choose from some of the many experienced APM service providers and select a strong application monitoring tool which can help them solve application performance issues before they affect end users.

Application Monitoring: Some Major Challenges Businesses Face

Application monitoring is a must for all businesses which use IT for business-critical activities. However, businesses face many challenges when it comes to application monitoring. Any down time in applications can directly affect the bottom line of businesses. In order to undertake active monitoring of applications, such challenges need to be identified first. Businesses face some of the following problems while monitoring applications.

Proactive Application Monitoring

Proactive application monitoring help in preventing or solving application bottlenecks before they start affecting end users. However, a certain threshold needs to be set before IT teams can ensure application availability. In case the established threshold is surpassed, the monitoring tool generates a real-time alert. Studying application performance for setting this threshold is a major challenge for almost all businesses. For overcoming this challenge, the IT department needs to determine the number of processes which need constant application monitoring, on basis of which they can set the threshold.

Application Monitoring for Multiple & Complex Applications

If the business has global users, the applications may be very complex because they have to support many locations, languages and cultures. Application monitoring of such complex applications becomes a major challenge for IT departments. Active monitoring of such applications can only be done after understanding the interconnectivity and flow of applications.

Application Monitoring for Shared Applications

Businesses often share applications in order to utilize resources optimally. Application monitoring of a single application is a simple task; however, a shared application creates the complication of constantly tracking logs, memory, disk resources etc. As an example, a single application using a lot of resources could affect the performance of other applications within the organization. Active monitoring of such applications can only be done through an effective application monitoring solution.

Application Monitoring for Clustered Applications

Many business applications are hosted in clustered environments with systems located at separate locations. This creates an application monitoring challenge for tracking failure logs, resources like disk, memory etc. Only by undertaking active monitoring of all the different components can an IT department track which application is causing problems.

A strong application monitoring tool can help overcome all the above-mentioned challenges for business organizations. There are a number of service providers in the market today who can help businesses ensure that service level agreement conditions are met. An experienced APM solution provider offers tools with which IT teams can undertake active monitoring of applications, ensuring end users are not affected by bottlenecks.