AppDynamics vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager comparison

AppDynamics and IBM are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. AppDynamics is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.2, while IBM is ranked #59 with an average rating of 6.0. AppDynamics holds a 4.6% mindshare in APM, compared to IBM’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 89% of AppDynamics users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of IBM users who would recommend it.

AppDynamics

Read 157 AppDynamics reviews

14,012 Views
8,865 Comparison Views

89% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Read 2 IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager reviews

608 Views
369 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

AppDynamics

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager and AppDynamics are prominent application performance management solutions, each with unique strengths. AppDynamics offers superior features, making it worth the higher price.

What features are offered by IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to AppDynamics?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager offers extensive monitoring capabilities, in-depth performance metrics, and the ability to track various components. AppDynamics provides real-time performance monitoring, advanced analytics, and deep insights into application performance. Users tend to prefer the depth and real-time insights of AppDynamics.

What areas of improvement can be found in IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to AppDynamics?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager needs a more intuitive user experience, improved integration with other tools, and a simplified interface. AppDynamics has a learning curve, can be expensive to implement, and requires initial setup effort. AppDynamics is more user-friendly once the setup is complete.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to AppDynamics?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager's deployment is complex and time-consuming, requiring significant support. AppDynamics offers a more straightforward deployment experience and robust customer service. AppDynamics provides better ease of deployment and strong customer service support.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to AppDynamics?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is more affordable upfront, appealing to cost-conscious businesses. AppDynamics has higher setup costs but delivers better ROI due to comprehensive features and performance capabilities. Users report a higher perceived ROI with AppDynamics.

To learn more, read our detailed AppDynamics vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AppDynamics vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

AppDynamics

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

5th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

157

Ranking in other categories

Mobile APM (2nd), Container Monitoring (3rd)

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

59th

Average Rating

6.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of AppDynamics is 4.6%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is 0.2%, down from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Mahesh Deshpande

Senior Technology Architect at Infosys

The transition tracing and user experience are good, but performance degrades past 3,000 or so agents

The Kubernetes cluster agent has not yet matured. That's one area that requires a lot of improvement. You have two options for implementing the Kubernetes agent. One is deployed in DocCloud, but you can't download those images from DocCloud for security reasons at most organizations, so this option isn't that useful. The installation for the second option isn't that user-friendly. Transition tracing for the Kubernetes application is challenging. You have to navigate to a new set of user interfaces in AppDynamics, so that's the pain point. There is an icon you need to click on to get a newer user interface.

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Christian Campos

Sales manager at Prodeo Innovation

Integrates well with IBM technologies, but it's outdated and lacks essential features

Implementing synthetic monitoring for our Internet banking site has been challenging. The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively. I have concerns about the complexity of the tool and the challenges in managing it effectively. The support provided is not satisfactory, and the specialists available lack sufficient training and expertise in using the tool.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It allows us to configure health rules so that we can, based on our own experience, determine when an application is behaving incorrectly."

"It reduces the time to resolve issues and requires less manpower."

"The solution saves time and cost."

"The most valuable feature of AppDynamics is that you can easily determine the load on the application."

"AppDynamics has a very broad range of supported technologies, and it's user-friendly. It looks nice, and it's easy to sell the solution to the stakeholders when we can visualize how the website is working. For example, where we have any problems through visual analytics."

"The transaction snapshots are the most valuable feature of AppDynamics"

"The most valuable feature is the ability to take a report, and in particular, a visual, and link it to actual application performance and then the consequences. This means you can show how an incident or action has an effect on the business."

"The real-time feature provides me with insights into what's happening."

More AppDynamics pros

"IBM's main value lies in its integration with its own technologies, which can be seen as a benefit in environments where IBM products are extensively used."

"The solution is very stable. We never had any issues with stability."

Cons

"The integration with cloud services is still pending with AppDynamics. We would like the product to be serverless."

"SQL statement monitoring"

"At this time, we don't have much visibility on the virtual environment, monitoring, and all other things. We have visibility only for database monitoring, and we have noticed performance impact when deploying database agents on the database server. We got to know this from AppDynamics support also that we should not deploy database agents from the database server. When agents are deployed on the same server and the database is monitored from there, we are not getting database server metrics. Therefore, we don't have those insights, and sometimes, we struggle because of that. They can improve this functionality so that we do not have a performance impact, and we can deploy anywhere. This would help us a lot. In terms of end-user monitoring, currently, it is not working for us because there are some complexities. It is a little complicated, and it takes a little bit of time to understand where you need to make changes. It would be very helpful if they can provide some template designs for end-user monitoring. When our servers are running on VMs, we don't get many insights from the VM side. I don't know whether it is possible to have visibility beyond the database, server, and application and whether there are some features where we can deploy AppDynamics on VMs as well. Such functionality would give us more control over storage, VM, OS, and database. It will also provide complete visibility of our hardware and software."

"The solution is available at an inflated cost"

"The initial setup could be easier."

"The training on the dashboards that is provided could be a little bit better, as could the use cases. They should have some good examples out there. As it is right now, I had to scour YouTube to find some stuff."

"If it can be able to intelligently provide all the things we need to look at, from a data point of view, that would be very useful."

"AppDynamics' modules and hardware resources are very high."

More AppDynamics cons

"The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively."

"The user interface was not good."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license needed to use the solution and it is expensive. The licensing model needs to improve."

"Our purchasing experience through the AWS Marketplace has been pretty painless."

"The pricing model for AppDynamics could be better. You have to subscribe to a yearly or a three-year licensing, which isn't very handy. The solution is one of the most expensive in the market today."

"AppDynamics is an expensive solution."

"It is expensive. However, our time to recover has been reduced, and this product has helped recuperate costs and provided us with ROI."

"It is not a cheap tool, but you also save in manpower to setup because it is easy and fast. At the end of the day, I think the revenue is much better. BUT, they have an awful co-term mode of licensing."

"We do not have any issues with the price."

"It could be cheaper. It's a little cost prohibitive. There are so many features that also show a lot of value, but it’s not always easy to justify the cost."

More AppDynamics pricing and cost advice

"I would rate the pricing a nine to ten. It is very expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

51%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

39%

Government

Computer Software Company

Non Profit

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

Any advice about APM solutions?

There are many factors and we know little about your requirements (size of org, technology stack, management systems, the scope of implementation). Our goal was to consolidate APM and infra monitor...

See all answers

APM tools for a Managed Service Provider - Dynatrace vs. AppDynamics vs. Aternity vs. Ruxit

Hi Avi! It's great to see your thorough approach to selecting an APM package for your MSP company. Considering your focus on SMBs and enterprises in Israel, Dynatrace seems like a solid choice with...

See all answers

What do you like most about AppDynamics?

The solution saves time and cost.

See all answers

What do you like most about IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager?

IBM's main value lies in its integration with its own technologies, which can be seen as a benefit in environments where IBM products are extensively used.

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager?

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager?

I would rate IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager a six out of ten. The monitoring tool we currently use is outdated and lacks essential features for monitoring customer experience. We face lim...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AppDynamics

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

February 2025

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager report

Download IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager product report

Also Known As

AppD, AppDynamics APM

Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Overview

AppDynamics is a comprehensive tool used for monitoring application performance, identifying user issues, analyzing traffic, managing infrastructure, and performance testing. It supports environments like Kubernetes, WebLogic, and Azure, and is crucial for industries such as banking, telecommunications, and financial services.

AppDynamics offers a robust solution for application performance monitoring, enabling deep diagnostics, transaction tracing, and root cause analysis. Users benefit from its real-time monitoring and comprehensive analytics capabilities. It's designed for ease of implementation and scalability, featuring intuitive dashboards that streamline infrastructure optimization and enhance user experience. AppDynamics supports extensive third-party extensions and provides proactive monitoring and alerting to ensure optimal system health. It assists in troubleshooting, database monitoring, and setting custom alerts to address Java applications and performance challenges efficiently.

What are the most important features of AppDynamics?

Application Performance Monitoring: Real-time insights into application health and performance
Business Transaction Capturing: Detailed tracking of business transactions across the application
Memory Monitoring: Monitoring memory usage to optimize application performance
Analytics: Advanced analytics to understand application and user behavior
Customizable Dashboards: Intuitive dashboards for better visualization and decision-making
Proactive Monitoring and Alerting: Immediate alerts and monitoring to prevent issues before they affect users
Integration Capabilities: Integration with third-party tools to extend functionality
Root Cause Analysis: Deep diagnostics to pinpoint and fix issues promptly
Transaction Mapping: Mapping transactions to understand and improve user journeys
Error Detection: Identifying and diagnosing errors to maintain application stability

What benefits or ROI should users look for in reviews?

Ease of Implementation: Simple deployment process
Scalability: Ability to grow with the organization's needs
Time Savings: Reducing time spent on troubleshooting and issue resolution
Enhanced User Experience: Improving application performance for better user satisfaction
Cost Efficiency: Balancing functionality with cost to deliver value

AppDynamics is widely adopted in banking, telecommunications, and financial services to ensure optimal user experience and system health. Its capabilities support these industries in maintaining robust, efficient, and reliable applications. The tool is instrumental in troubleshooting, performance optimization, and providing a seamless user experience.

AppDynamics

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager for Application Diagnostics on z/OS manages real-time problem detection, analysis, and repair to help maintain the availability, performance and general health of on-demand composite applications. it can gain in-depth diagnostic information for specific application requests to identify the root cause of problems. This software provides a consistent way to manage composite applications throughout Java EE application environments. Set alerts to help detect and fix potentially troublesome situations before they affect users. It can resolve performance issues faster and reduce downtime costs.

IBM

Sample Customers

Cisco, Sony, Nasdaq, Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Edmunds.com, Puma, Fox News, DirecTV, Pizza Hut, T-Systems, Cornell University, OpenTable, BITMARCK, Green Mountain Power, Care.com, Overstock, Paddy Power, eHarmony, Kraft, The Motley Fool, The Container Store, and more See more customers

Michelin Tire Corp

Buyer's Guide

AppDynamics vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

January 2025

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Find out what your peers are saying about AppDynamics vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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