Splunk AppDynamics Reviews

The most valuable feature is the ability to pinpoint problems in our applications. We can find the problem quickly and fix it.

It definitely helps us speed up our troubleshooting. We are able to use it even during development and our beta testing to see the performance of our application and go back into development if we had issues. We can know when we need to start putting our beta customers in it. When our application starts slowing down, we can go back to developers immediately and tell them there is a problem, instead of having to hear it from the customers. It's actually helped me look better at my job. And so when I look good, I can make AppDynamics look good. And when I look good, I make my boss and his boss look good. Everybody's happier in the end.

Well they're adding in the Business iQ functionality and I will be really excited when that happens. But so far, it really has all the features that I need at this point. I mean there's always going to be more and more you can add to an application, but at this point, they've covered a lot of the ins and outs of what I need when I'm going through my application to figure out what's wrong.

So far I haven't had any problems with stability. It's been a 100% up time for us. We monitor it with a separate solution as well, just to make sure that it's up and running and we've never had a problem with it.

We initially installed it as a medium installation. When we determined that we were going to use the product more and more, we were able to just modify a couple of settings inside the configuration, enhance our hardware, and it scaled perfectly without the need to reinstall or anything.

We had a gentleman from technical support who came on site for about a week to do training with us. In that one week, I was able to learn almost all the functionality and the admin abilities that I had in the back end. And really I think I know the product in and out.

We had monitors, but when something goes down, we lose productivity and our business loses money. The question is, would you rather spend a little money up front to be able to have something that will have you save money down the road.

I was the primary person to install the software on the servers. It was a straightforward installation. We installed it in a Windows platform. The installer has a wizard that we just followed, put in our perimeters, and then it just basically plugged and played from there.

I'm not the business person, but we've seen an immediate ROI from purchasing AppDynamics.

The only other vendor we were looking at the time was New Relic. Unfortunately, New Relic just seemed pretty, but it lacked functionality. When it comes to telling me what's wrong with my application, I want facts, numbers, and graphs. I just can't just settle for “pretty”. I have to have concrete information. When selecting a product, the features were definitely the number one factor. The support and training seems topnotch and they were always willing to jump on board and help me if I had any problems, even though it was just our POC, when we were going through that process. Overall, we were looking for support and then the functionality. It's pretty cut and dry. I'm pretty good at what I do, so I want to make sure that they can support me and I've got the stuff I need.

My overall advice is, if you don’t have it yet, then get it.

It's mainly used to monitor both applications and databases. That's primarily how I use it.

Essentially, I use it for monitoring. I perform performance testing and use it to monitor database performance, CPU usage, and generate alerts on different nodes based on CPU utilization and other factors. It's mainly used to check the performance of the nodes.

I find it helpful, especially in terms of self-learning.

The major concern lies with reports, specifically their configurability. It's like, if I want to combine multiple reports and generate them all at once, that's not possible. Even though there's a setup for generating 25 reports, I wanted to group them all and generate them in one go, which isn't currently feasible. I have to manually run each report and set the time for it. There should be an option to schedule them collectively, like selecting 10 reports, setting a particular time, and having them scheduled.

The ability to schedule multiple reports at once, which is currently lacking. This is a challenge I face in my day-to-day work with AppDynamics.

I have been using this solution for more than a year.

It is a stable solution.

It's definitely scalable. The number of environments in our implementation has been increasing, so it's adaptable. It's a large enterprise, definitely not medium or small.

Maintenance is handled by the maintenance team.

In my experience, it's easy to use. There's nothing complex to learn or fear. You can quickly adapt to it without the need for extensive training. That's my advice.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

I use it to solve issues that my clients encounter, such as application slowness. It helps me identify whether the issue is related to the database, server, or CPU memory management.

Moreover, I use it to find solutions and provide recommendations to my colleagues.

This solution not only provides answers but also provides sensor data. This allows us to quickly resolve issues that developers may take a long time to solve. In essence, it helps us address problems at an early stage. Moreover, it is especially useful in production servers where real users encounter numerous issues.

There are numerous issues that arise during peak times, and AppDynamics makes it easy for us to identify the problem areas and determine the appropriate resolutions. This is how it helps us find solutions effectively.

Regarding improvements, I believe the dashboard could be more optimized. Although it claims to be optimized, I think it should be even more convenient, especially for advanced users. 

Additionally, the documentation can be a bit challenging. It would be beneficial if the documentation provided clear solutions for every problem. In my opinion, the documentation could be improved.

I worked with AppDynamics for around three to four months. I have been working directly with it for the past year.

I use the latest version. 

It is stable, but the only downside is the licensing part. Other than that, it's a reliable product with no major issues.

It is highly scalable. There are no additional limitations in terms of scalability.

In my company, we have around 50 to 100 clients using this tool. Although it can be a bit expensive, it is still being used extensively to solve various problems.

It's straightforward, not too complex. However, it requires proper learning to effectively use it.

The deployment process typically takes around one to two hours, depending on the system. Once the setup is complete, we can proceed with the implementation process.

First, there's a need for basic knowledge of OS, especially for Windows and .NET. Additionally, understanding concepts like Dynatrace and AppDynamics, their functioning, and architecture is crucial. These are the key methods involved in the deployment process. If it's a cloud solution, then AWS or Azure are the recommended options. If it's on-premises, then using either Linux or Windows is ideal.

For deployment, we need to focus on event configuration, which involves learning about network events and configuration. Once we understand this, we can proceed with the deployment setup. There is no frequent deployment. In case the deployment is not satisfactory, we may need to learn about Linux and Windows concepts.

I have seen some ROI. 

It is an expensive solution. It's on a yearly basis. We need to pay for it annually.

I have used Dynatrace. The main difference between the two is that AppDynamics utilizes different data mechanisms, while Dynatrace uses a unified agent approach. This simplifies the complexity of Dynatrace, providing more visibility and root cause analysis. In terms of benefits, AppDynamics is more scalable than analytics.

Overall, I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

What I found valuable in AppDynamics Database Monitoring is good technical support. I also like that it's scalable and stable.

AppDynamics Database Monitoring would be a better product if it could support new technology, such as cloud technology. Even Dynatrace lacks support for newer technologies.

I've been working with AppDynamics Database Monitoring for four to five years for my customers.

AppDynamics Database Monitoring is a stable product.

AppDynamics Database Monitoring is a scalable product.

AppDynamics Database Monitoring has good technical support.

The initial setup for AppDynamics Database Monitoring is not that complex, though it has specific prerequisites you'd need to fulfill. You'd need to collect some database credentials, so setting up AppDynamics Database Monitoring isn't complex and isn't as straightforward.

AppDynamics Database Monitoring requires a license for database monitoring and other features, while Dynatrace provides monitoring and other features out of the box without additional costs. Sometimes this makes it more challenging to pitch AppDynamics Database Monitoring to customers, especially because you need to buy a separate license.

As an implementer, I have yet to learn about the pricing for AppDynamics Database Monitoring. Pricing is taken care of by the sales team.

I've evaluated Dynatrace and have been working with it for ten years. Compared to other APM solutions, Dynatrace is far better, even in database monitoring. The database monitoring functionality is an out-of-the-box offering of Dynatrace, while in AppDynamics Database Monitoring, you have to pay a licensing fee. Dynatrace also has plug-ins that help you monitor databases.

I'm working in an APM implementation company delivering APM solutions from Dynatrace, AppDynamics, New Relic, etc.

I'm mainly working with AppDynamics and Dynatrace tools, and my company has an APM tool still under development. I'm working with AppDynamics Database Monitoring.

My company has a mix of customers on AppDynamics Database Monitoring, small, medium, and large enterprises.

Compared to AppDynamics Database Monitoring, I'd go for Dynatrace because it has out-of-the-box features that don't require a separate license. Dynatrace also has a better interface and dashboard than AppDynamics Database Monitoring.

I'd advise anyone who wants to implement AppDynamics Database Monitoring to follow the documentation. It's a straightforward product to use.

My rating for AppDynamics Database Monitoring is seven out of ten.

My company is a partner of AppDynamics Database Monitoring.

AppDynamics is an application performance management solution. We use it for application monitoring, database monitoring. 

The solution is deployed on public cloud, but the agents are on the servers with the controller on the cloud.

I am a Senior Performance Engineer.

The best feature of AppDynamics is the analytics, which gives us the business insights of the application. For example, if there are any failures, AppDynamics will give us the number of failures and the reason for those failures. 

The solution also allows us to deep-dive into the code by taking us to the line of code where it feels there is an issue.

The end-user monitoring needs improvement in this solution. There are many KPIs that are not available in AppDynamics.

The mobile apps also need improvement. The solution should have an option to aggregate the services based on the header values.

I have been using AppDynamics for 5 years.

The solution is stable. We have been using it for the last 5 years. At the beginning we had a few issues, but now it is serving its purpose.

There is a scope for improvement with respect to support. When you make a service call, they sometimes take time to respond. You then have to follow up or escalate to get them to react.

Neutral

Prior to AppDynamics we were using Dynatrace.

The initial set up of AppDynamics is easy.

You are required to purchase licenses whether you use it or not. It is not pay-as-you-use.

If you implement AppDynamics, all members of the team should be aware of what it does and how to use it. If only one or two people are aware of this, the solution will not serve the purpose of improving application performance or in finding and fixing the issues.

I would rate AppDynamics a 7 out of 10.

AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring is an application performance management tool.

The platform itself is divided into different modules, each of which can be enhanced with additional modules. We work with End User Experience Monitoring, both server monitoring, and application performance monitoring.

AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring is used to monitor user experiences when evaluating and deploying applications for the company.

With Dynatrace, AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring is one of the best tools on the market.

There are many features that are very valuable to us, but the ability to monitor the status of the users' experience in real-time is one of them. I can see in almost real-time whether or not our users are having a positive experience when using our applications.

One of the things that we would like to improve a little more is the dashboards. The dashboards are good, but I believe that they could improve even more. 

It would be helpful to have a better way of seeing the status of our applications and we can customize the information that is displayed a little bit more.

I would like to see a better way to automate actions based on the events generated by the tool.

We moved our focus, and I'm now more working with Cisco AppDynamics. AppDynamics is a brand that was recently acquired by Cisco, but it continues to be known as AppDynamics.

I have been using AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring for six months.

We are using the latest version because it's SaaS.

The stability of AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring is very good. It can handle a wide range of applications and traffic.

AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring is scalable.

We have more than 20 people who are managing the application.

The initial setup was completed before I joined the project.

We have a team of three people to maintain this solution, but it may not be enough.

The solution is not free. It does require licensing to be paid.

I recently joined and I am currently working as an external consultant for the team.

Because of the nature of the tool, the main piece of advice is to work in close contact with the developers of the applications that we are monitoring.

We are Cisco partners.

I am very pleased with this solution, but there is still room for improvement.

I would rate AppDynamics Mobile Real-User Monitoring a nine out of ten.

The most valuable feature is the ease of just putting it in right out of the box and its being able to traverse our environment and bring those problem areas to light. That's basically it.

One of the applications that we use was having some very bad slowdowns. We were able to throw AppDynamics in there. We were able to identify the root cause within probably 45 minutes, which took our process time from 33 days down to 18 days. Then, eventually, a few more efficiencies were actually found a few hours later, which brought it down to three days. It was pretty awesome.

Because we didn't have anything before, this is like the Taj Mahal, compared to what we didn’t have.

The only thing is that maybe it collects too much right away. There's a lot of noise. You need to have those people that know the application very well in order to tune it down. Maybe that would be an area with room for improvement.

Beyond that, I don't know yet. Give me some more time in it and let me figure it out a little more but I can't think of anything else.

Stability is excellent; no worries at all with that.

Scalability is excellent; no worries at all.

We haven’t used technical support because we are still in the PoV. Our sales guy is beside us. He's been awesome with everything.

We weren't using something like this before. We were using an NPM, network performance monitoring, tool called Truview. It wasn't giving us our application insight. It did everything for the network but not the application itself. We've had a lot of slowdowns on our website and things like that. Through our homegrown tools, we couldn’t figure out what those slowdowns were until we threw AppDynamics in and those kind of started floating to the top.

Initial setup was very straightforward. It was basically just downloading an agent, recycling, and you're up and running. That was how easy it was.

New Relic as well as CA were also on the shortlist at the time. New Relic couldn't actually give me the breadth of what we wanted, as AppDynamics could. CA was kind of very intrusive to our network and we wanted something that didn't have a whole lot of resource dependencies out there.

My rating is because of the top three that we looked at. I also had our developers look into it, as well as our release management and our systems engineers. All of us came together and we were able to put the pros and cons together on what AppDynamics gave us or didn't give us over the other ones. AppDynamics just came in head over heels above everybody else. Unfortunately for the others, it was just the writing on the paper, as well as the proof in the trial period and what we saw in our environment.

Be patient. They do things very procedurally. Usually, I'm used to downloading an application and trying it on my own. If I would have done that on my own, I probably would have thought, I can't do this; there's too much there. But, they kept coming back, saying, “No, we want to show you. We want to make sure you're doing this right.” Even though I wanted to say, “No. Just leave us alone and let us do it”, I'm glad I did take their advice and bring them in, so they could teach us a little more about it.

We're doing APM but we also are right now evaluating the Analytics side of it. That's been pretty awesome but we haven't really gotten very deep into that one. We’re basically just using APM.

One of the most valuable features has been the ease of use that really fuels adoption in our organization. Other solutions that we have used for APM were not as user friendly, and frankly it was just really difficult to get people to use the tools.

The dashboards have been straightforward; easy to set up, really, for the most part.

It's made it easier to collaborate across teams; be able to have the same data immediately in front of you just by sharing a URL.

It could be a little more flexible in configuration on the back end. The design is geared towards specific goals, and they've done a great job with those. A lot of times when I'll ask a question, "Can we make it do this? Can we make it do that?", the answer is just, "No. Sorry, we don't support that at this time." And I get it, that's a good model for them to have, but I always have a wish list of things as I'm working with the tool.

I come across little things all the time, and I just file a ticket with AppDynamics to raise a feature request. So, I don't keep track of them, I just document it, and fire and forget.

I’ve been impressed with the features that they're adding and the direction that they've been working, a lot of which I wasn't aware of. License management, for example; being able to just give a certain number of licenses to an arm of the organization and say, "Here. Here's your licenses, do whatever you want with them." That really pushes the ultimate administration of the product out without having to "micromanage", if you will, and worry about giving them the key to the server. We are not currently using that. As far as I know, it's not released yet, but I was excited to see that. That was one that I brought up with support along the way.

I am impressed that they continue to develop and improve, and it's not a stagnant product by any means.

We have a controller that's pretty overloaded. We haven't run into any issues, though, with the AppDynamics.

Their technical support's been very responsive. They don't always have the answers that I want, but they're responsive, and help us find solutions where they can.

We didn't know that we needed a new solution. We had a solution. Another department wanted to look at AppDynamics. We looked at it and said, "We're already doing that, but if you want to bring it in and test their claims of greatness against what we have, go for it". We brought them in, and we said, "Let's buy that.”

Initial setup was very straight forward. We didn't even use technical services for our implementation.

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.

We did not look at any other vendors. We weren't shopping, really.

In general, when I look at solutions, first of all, the product has to be top shelf. It has to be number one. That really drives us: "What is the product going to do for us?" In the vendor, we look for a vendor that's going to be around for a while; that we feel is going to be stable enough to support us into the foreseeable future. And then the support model, technical support; the ability to get into the technical details with us when we have questions. All of those things.

Having implemented without the help of professional services, we were capable of doing that; it went very smoothly. Involve, even indulge, AppDynamics in being a part of the implementation process, and having the planning and discussion around it. We wanted to go more rapidly than that would allow. Therefore, we kind of short-circuited that process, and jumped right in, which was good, but I think that there's value in having folks who have done it a lot look at where you're going with it, and give you some pointers. We've had to "course correct" a little bit on a few points as we went, and they might have been smoother along the way, had we just gone through the enablement and initial process.

It’s a great product. We're happy with it.

Nothing is perfect, so a perfect rating would be unattainable, but they’re pretty close to that. They're really great.