Application Performance Management (APM) Industry has grown well in the last five years. It is now a multi-billion dollar industry and still growing. The awareness of APM issues among the businesses and IT professionals has improved considerably. But the questions to ask at this juncture are –how does it stack against adjacent disciplines and has it realized its full potential?

1. STATE OF THE APM INDUSTRY

2. APPLICATION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
(APM) INDUSTRY HAS GROWN WELL IN THE LAST
FIVE YEARS. IT IS NOW A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR
INDUSTRY AND STILL GROWING. THE AWARENESS
OF APM ISSUES AMONG THE BUSINESSES AND IT
PROFESSIONALS HAS IMPROVED CONSIDERABLY.
BUT THE QUESTIONS TO ASK AT THIS JUNCTURE
ARE –HOW DOES IT STACK AGAINST ADJACENT
DISCIPLINES AND HAS IT REALIZED ITS FULL
POTENTIAL?

3. SECURITY AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
(UNDER CAPACITY MANAGEMENT) COME
UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF ITIL FRAMEWORK
OF SERVICES. BUT THE FIELD OF SECURITY
HAS DONE EXCEEDINGLY WELL IN THE LAST
20 YEARS OR SO AND CONTINUES TO THRIVE.
THIS IS EVIDENT BY SO MANY ACTIVITIES AND
BUZZ AROUND THE SECURITY INDUSTRY. TO
START WITH, THE IT SECURITY BUDGET IN A
COMPANY IS MANY TIMES THAT ALLOCATED
FOR APM IN TERMS OF BOTH CAPITAL
INVESTMENT AND PERSONNEL (APM
INCLUDES BOTH APPLICATION AND NETWORK
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT).

4. THEN WE HAVE THE INDUSTRY CERTIFICATIONS IN SECURITY
– CISSP, CISA, CSSLP TO NAME A FEW. THERE ARE NON-
PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS (ISC2) AND ISO WHICH
HAVE CREATED THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE FOR SECURITY
AND SOME OF THEM PROMOTE THESE CERTIFICATIONS.
THERE ARE MANY FORUMS (ISC2, SANS, ETC.) WHO ARE
ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING. THEY
ALSO ACT AS A FORUM FOR BRINGING IN SECURITY VENDORS
TO ENGAGE IN WEBINARS TO PROMOTE THE LATEST
TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTS. THE CERTIFICATIONS ARE
WELL RECOGNIZED IN THE INDUSTRY AND THE CANDIDATES
WITH CERTIFICATIONS ARE WELL SOUGHT AFTER FOR
EMPLOYMENT AND CAREER ADVANCEMENT. SINCE THE
CERTIFICATIONS NEED CONSTANT EDUCATION AND TRAINING
TO KEEP THEM CURRENT THE FLOW OF KNOWLEDGE HAS
BECOME SELF-SUSTAINING AND PERPETUAL.

5. SECURITY BY NATURE IS ROOTED IN “FEAR”
(WHO LEAVES THEIR HOME DOOR UNLOCKED?).
IT IS SOLD AS AN INSURANCE AGAINST THREATS
THAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAPPEN. INFORMATION
SECURITY FALLS IN THE DOMAIN OF
CRIMINALS/LAW-ENFORCEMENT IN THE
CIVILIAN LIFE AND CYBER-WARS IN THE GEO-
POLITICAL CONTEXT. THERE ARE
GOVERNMENT AND INDUSTRY REGULATIONS
FOR BUSINESSES TO BE COMPLIANT TO
SECURITY STANDARDS (E.G., FISMA, HIPAA,
PCI, ETC.). NO WONDER THAT THE SECURITY
INDUSTRY IS THRIVING.

6. MOST OF THE ABOVE DRIVERS ARE ABSENT FOR THE
APM INDUSTRY. WHILE IT IS UNLIKELY THAT
THERE WILL BE REGULATIONS CALLED BY THE
GOVERNMENTS ANYTIME IN THE FUTURE
(ALTHOUGH IT SOUNDED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AFTER
WITNESSING THE DEBACLE IN THE LAUNCH OF THE
FEDERAL INSURANCE EXCHANGES UNDER OBAMA
CARE!), APM INDUSTRY COULD GET A BOOST BY
SIMPLY IMPLEMENTING MANY OF THE PRACTICES
THAT SECURITY INDUSTRY HAS PERFECTED.
ANOTHER GREAT EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW IS THE
SIMILAR SUCCESS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT
INSTITUTE (PMI) AND ITS PMP CERTIFICATION.

7. HERE ARE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS THAT APM INDUSTRY
COULD IMPLEMENT TO BECOME AN ONGOING THRIVING
INDUSTRY:
ESTABLISH AN APM FORUM THAT IS SUPPORTED BY THE TOP
APM VENDORS
ASSEMBLE EXISTING BODY OF KNOWLEDGE FOR REFERENCE
CREATE THE BASIC BODY OF KNOWLEDGE FOR APM TO
PROMOTE A COMMON UNDERSTANDING
START ONE APM CERTIFICATION TO BEGIN WITH AND CREATE
MORE AS NEEDED
OFFER PERIODIC SEMINARS AND WEBINARS TO FOSTER
KNOWLEDGE
HAVE VENDOR NEUTRAL CONFERENCES THROUGHOUT THE
WORLD SPACED ALL THROUGH THE YEAR
INCREASE APM AWARENESS IN THE UNIVERSITIES AND
SCHOOLS

8. BODIES AND FORUMS ARE UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED
BY THEMSELVES – WHAT WE NEED IS A HANDFUL
OF DETERMINED CHAMPIONS WHO HAVE REAL
LIFE PASSION AND ARE INTENT TO MAKE A
DIFFERENCE TO THE APM WORLD.
WELL, WHO WANTS TO BELL THE CAT?

9. APSERA TECH HAS YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN
WAN OPTIMIZATION, NETWORKING AND
APPLICATION PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.
WAN OPTIMIZATION BY APSERA TECH HAS
HELPED FORTUNE 1000 COMPANIES IN DIVERSE
INDUSTRIES IN PLANNING/RESOLVING CRITICAL
BUSINESS APPLICATION PERFORMANCE ISSUES
LIKE SLOW APPLICATION RESPONSE TIME, WAN
OPTIMIZATION AND WAN ACCELERATION. FOR
MORE DETAILS, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
APSERATECH.COM

10. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT
HTTP://WWW.APSERATECH.COM