Application Performance Monitoring
Tools that track application performance and identify issues in real-time.
Definition
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) refers to tools and practices that track the performance of software applications in production. APM solutions monitor response times, error rates, resource utilization, and user experience metrics, providing visibility into application health.
Modern APM platforms trace requests across distributed systems, correlate metrics with code changes, and often incorporate AI for anomaly detection. They're essential for maintaining reliability in complex production environments.
Why It Matters
Production issues are inevitable; finding them quickly determines impact. APM provides the visibility needed to identify and resolve problems before users are significantly affected.
For engineering teams, APM is foundational infrastructure for operating reliable production systems.
Examples in Practice
APM tracing reveals that a new deployment increased database query times, identifying the specific slow query before users complain.
Error rate alerting from the APM platform triggers on-call response within minutes of an issue beginning.
APM data proves that performance improvements reduced checkout abandonment, justifying continued infrastructure investment.