Apdex Alliance Gains New Members

The recently formed Application Performance Index Alliance, dedicated to creating a single number to measure application performance, gained some momentum Thursday when it announced that Keynote Systems Inc. and Akamai Technologies Inc. have joined the group.

The Apdex Alliance, formally launched early in March, was created to develop and promote a single ranking for application performance that can reduce the confusion in the performance management space around the wide range of metrics that different tools produce, according to the groups founder, Peter Sevcik, president of NetForecast in Charlottesville, Va.

"The problem is that every measurement tool produces many numbers. Most tools are proud at the number of numbers they can give you. But there are too many numbers and no equivalency from one application to another. Were producing a single metric that tells you about the quality of a transaction," said Sevcik.

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The goal is to give IT managers and business managers a common understanding of application performance to better align IT and business objectives.

The Alliance, which now has 13 members, has already created a simple formula and methodology for this single metric or ranking system.

It is now working to develop an open specification on how to measure and report on performance, according to Sevcik.

The metric operates from 0 to 1.

"Perfection is 1.0. Total disaster is 0. Youll be fired at 0.5," Sevcik said.

Alliance members also include Adlex Inc., FineGround Networks Inc., NetForecast, NetQoS Inc., Network Physics Inc., Packeteer Inc., Peribit Networks Inc., Swan Labs Corp. and WildPackets Inc.

In addition to recruiting new members, the Alliance is defining methodologies on how to use the metric.

Read more here about a Web services benchmark formula that tests applications.

"The formula is simple and easy to understand. Turning it into a useful methodology is where our emphasis is," said Sevcik.

The Alliance is also working to educate the market on its efforts.

It will soon produce "The Technical Guide to Using Apdex."

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