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AWS X-Ray vs IBM Application Performance Management comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #17 with an average rating of 8.0, while IBM is ranked #56 with an average rating of 7.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 3.9% mindshare in APM, compared to IBM’s 0.4% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 62% of IBM users who would recommend it.
AWS X-Ray
Read 7 AWS X-Ray reviews
  • 6,326 Views
  • 5,744 Comparison Views
100% willing to recommend
IBM Application Performance...
Read 7 IBM Application Performance Management reviews
  • 1,015 Views
  • 664 Comparison Views
62% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Application Performance Management and AWS X-Ray compete in the application performance monitoring and analysis category. AWS X-Ray has the upper hand due to its extensive feature set and better integration capabilities.

Features: IBM offers strong predictive analytics, comprehensive monitoring tools, and robust support. AWS X-Ray provides extensive tracing capabilities, seamless integration with AWS services, and enhanced tracing functionality.

Room for Improvement: IBM needs better customization options, faster update cycles, and simplified configuration. AWS X-Ray could improve its documentation, provide a more intuitive setup process, and enhance UI/UX design.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: IBM is noted for straightforward deployment and responsive customer service. AWS X-Ray has a steeper learning curve but benefits from deep AWS ecosystem integration once set up.

Pricing and ROI: IBM is valued for transparent pricing and higher perceived ROI. AWS X-Ray, despite higher costs, is considered worthwhile due to its feature set. IBM is seen as more cost-effective with quicker ROI, while AWS offers a high-value, feature-rich option.

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To learn more, read our detailed AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management Report (Updated: December 2024).
Buyer's Guide
AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management
December 2024
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Categories and Ranking

AWS X-Ray
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
17th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Application Performance...
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
56th
Average Rating
6.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.9
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of AWS X-Ray is 3.9%, up from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Application Performance Management is 0.4%, down from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Parth Solanki - PeerSpot reviewer
Saves time, is relatively cheap, and helps find errors
If we get any error, we can go to X-Ray and get all the requests for a certain error in one place. It makes it easy to find the issue in your own product. You can look at logs and error logs and find loopholes. You can do direct queries to get specific requests over the course of a day. It's very good at error reporting and quite fast. You also get a lot of information, including IP addresses, user locations, et cetera.
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Daniel Tamiru - PeerSpot reviewer
A multi-functional solution but has poor stability and performance-related issues
We are using version 4 of IBM Application Performance Management, and it is deployed on-premises. We use it for internet banking and mainly for application performance on-site. For example, if we face performance-related issues in one of our software or managed services, we use this solution to…
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

"The solution has made it easier for us to trace the problems that we have with our requests and to monitor the timing of each step in each request we do in our endpoints."
"The error analysis capabilities of X-Ray are really good."
"AWS X-Ray is a strong solution and has a smooth integration process."
"The most beneficial feature is that it shows a dashboard for performance intervals, which reveals latencies."
"The most important one is compliance. We're able to achieve our regulatory levels. We're able to achieve the security level that we need for the federal government."
"It is a very scalable solution."
"The most promising feature of AWS X-Ray is that you can debug the issues through the proper logs. You can also get an analysis out of the logs for some use cases, though I have yet to try all the features of AWS X-Ray."
"AWS X-RAY identifies bottlenecks in terms of stability and performance and how long certain data lives in terms of response time and duration."
"IBM Application Performance Management helped us increased our response time by 80% and cost 60% less."
"It's easy to use."
"I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten."
"Because we have partnerships with other partners, I can share a bit about what I've noticed with IBM APM compared to other vendor solutions. Specifically, with IBM, the visibility into detailed process information is more tangible. On the OS level, APM displays all processes (or the top 10 processes) that are consuming CPU or resident memory. This is the most important thing that is not always available with other vendors."
"The most valuable feature is the breakdown that it provides, such as a description of the fields for a particular transaction."
"The transaction tracking feature from IBM is the most important feature for us. It is something that provides a terrific value for us and our clients. It has a lot of data sources and agents that are collectors. It is also stable."
"The initial setup was straightforward and took minimal effort."
 

Cons

"I do not have any notes in terms of improvements."
"They can improve how traces are sent to other providers."
"A significant downside is that it is very expensive."
"Like most Amazon products, the user interface, configuration, and tuning aren't the easiest. That's the biggest reason why people tend to go to products like TerraForm and Terragrunt. We use TerraForm and Terragrunt. So, for setting things up and interacting with X-Ray, it's definitely the user interface that can be better."
"The user interface is sometimes kind of confusing to understand. It's not very user-friendly."
"What needs to be better in AWS X-Ray is the log filtering. Predefined filters could be helpful because the power of analytics comes from how you can filter the data. I also want to see more KPIs from AWS X-Ray."
"If you have a small team, it's probably overkill."
"It should have X-Ray SDKs for different languages like Node.js, Python, or Java."
"Its web user interface is a little bit old in comparison to other solutions, such as New Relic, and it should be improved. Its scalability and technical support should also be improved. Currently, it is scalable, but only in a vertical way. They provide good technical support, but the initial steps for a new case can be improved to fasten the resolution process."
"It's still missing some platforms. For example, if you look to applications itself, it is missing the interface."
"With APM, we noticed that the agent can cause a lot of issues for the application, making the agent very unreliable. Many issues are happening, and we've had to discuss it with support to try and get a fix. It affects application availability, and sometimes actions fail because of the agent, degrading the performance of the application."
"The stability is not great and should be better."
"They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy."
"The demo that was provided to us is not working very well. At times, there are errors."
"Technical support can be slow and needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for AWS X-Ray is a six out of ten."
"The solution is a bit expensive."
"As you develop a relationship with Amazon, your pricing gets lower. You get credits for the amount of the system you use, and then if you're the government, you can get government pricing. For commercial users, there's a hump when you go from small to medium to big enterprise. Small businesses can live pretty easily off the free tier in a lot of cases, but when you go from a medium to a big enterprise, it becomes more expensive on a per-user basis. I'd like to see that curve going in a different way where pricing can be driven down while people are trying to adopt the technology."
"IBM APM is one of the cheaper products on the market, while everything necessary to get started is included in the license."
"As I previously indicated, I initiated the IBM and uncovered all its elements. Consequently, I'm not inclined towards a licensing approach."
"The licensing fees can be paid every six months or on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
10%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS X-Ray?
AWS X-Ray is a strong solution and has a smooth integration process.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS X-Ray?
AWS X-Ray is very beneficial, however, it is expensive. It should be more cost-effective.
See all answers
What needs improvement with AWS X-Ray?
It should have X-Ray SDKs for different languages like Node.js, Python, or Java. It should also have custom annotations and better instruments for external API services. In addition to these, X-Ray...
See all answers
What do you like most about IBM Application Performance Management?
I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten.
See all answers
What needs improvement with IBM Application Performance Management?
They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy. ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for IBM Application Performance Management?
I monitor business applications for more than four end users.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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Azure Monitor vs AWS X-Ray
Compared 13% of the time
New Relic vs AWS X-Ray Logo
New Relic vs AWS X-Ray
Compared 13% of the time
Google Cloud's operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) vs AWS X-Ray Logo
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Compared 11% of the time
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Compared 42% of the time
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Compared 19% of the time
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Compared 12% of the time
IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager vs IBM Application Performance Management Logo
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Compared 10% of the time
Datadog vs IBM Application Performance Management Logo
Datadog vs IBM Application Performance Management
Compared 10% of the time
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
AWS X-Ray
December 2024
AWS X-Ray reportDownload AWS X-Ray product report
Buyer's Guide
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
December 2024
IBM Application Performance Management reportDownload IBM Application Performance Management product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM APM
 

Learn More

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
IBM
 

Overview

AWS X-Ray is a powerful debugging and performance analysis tool offered by Amazon Web Services. It allows developers to trace requests made to their applications and identify bottlenecks and issues. 

With X-Ray, developers can visualize the entire request flow and pinpoint the exact location where errors occur. It provides detailed insights into the performance of individual components and helps optimize the overall application performance. 

X-Ray integrates seamlessly with other AWS services, making it easy to trace requests across different services and identify dependencies. It also offers a comprehensive set of APIs and SDKs, enabling developers to instrument their applications and capture valuable data for analysis. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, AWS X-Ray is a valuable tool for developers looking to improve the performance and reliability of their applications.

The IBM Application Performance Management portfolio provides visibility, control and automation of your mission-critical applications. It helps pinpoint the root cause of application's issue more quickly and resolve the problem. The integrated capabilities cover the five key areas: discovery, end-use experience, transaction tracking, enterprise diagnostics and analytics. It also easily monitors applications to ensure optimal performance to extend your hybrid management environment capabilities, to measure the customer experience from multiple locations and to further eliminate blind spots in your application environment.
 

Sample Customers

COMCAST, ConnectWise, skyscanner, AirAsia, cookpad, cimpress, VTEX, zowdow
Mibtree, EatDrinkDeals.com, IT Performance Advisor
Buyer's Guide
AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management
December 2024
Free Report: AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management
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We monitor all Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.