Application Infrastructure Management
New Ways for New Times
by Lynn Nye, APM Advisors
Published July 2004, Posted August 2004

Abstract:

The shift from mainframe, through client-server, to n-tiered web based application models has been challenging for any IT organization. The ability to extend application services across an enterprise, to partners and even directly to customers is a powerful enabler for any business. Along with this capability is the responsibility to ensure that those applications are truly available, to each and every user their use is intended for.

This availability is precisely what Application Infrastructure Management solutions help IT organizations achieve. They provide insight across a system to monitor availability, assist in quickly identifying conditions that impede availability, and provide proactive services to ensure that critical business services obtain the necessary resources when demand exceeds supply.

Extending these services into the application infrastructure should be one of the priorities for IT, because if the infrastructure isn’t stable the system isn’t stable. Until the introduction of AIM solutions, the approach to supporting those systems was ‘scratch an itch’ or buy a tool.

With intelligent instrumentation and intelligent real-time analysis of information obtained from within the application infrastructure, IT can dramatically improve application availability, improve resource efficiency, and reduce operational costs. While scratching always provides temporary relief the real goal is to itch much less often. It’s a sign of health.

About the author:

APM Advisors was founded by R. "Lynn" Nye Jr., who has nearly 20 years experience in the IT industry.

Lynn has an extensive and diverse background in the computer networking industry. Recently he has returned to independent consulting, after founding and developing Centrisoft Corporation. Centrisoft is recognized as being one of the most innovative companies within the rapidly growing Application Performance Management marketplace.

Prior to Centrisoft, Lynn ran a successful consultancy (NetResults), where he provided a variety of professional services to a variety of clients, wrote over 100 industry articles and columns, as well as developed and delivered seminars throughout the US and Europe.

Earlier at Sync Research, Lynn had the opportunity to assist a company evolve from an engineering organization to a product company. Developing the product plans, industry relationships and press contacts that established the company as a serious contender in the early 90’s. Lynn was a founding member of the Frame Relay forum and toured extensively speaking on the application of Frame Relay within enterprise networks.

His most valuable experiences came from his time at First Interstate Bank, where he obtained an extensive understanding of not only IT related technologies, but the critical relationship between business and IT. During his tenure at the bank, he led teams in deploying the banks first LANs, handling the shift in networking services during the divestiture of AT&T and implementing a PoS (Point of Sale) network.

This paper is reproduced by special arrangement with our partner, APM Advisors.