A holistic approach to application performance monitoring involves analyzing an entire system from when requirements begin, right up to delivery at the user’s doorstep.

According to Expand Networks’ (News - Alert) Application & Service Delivery Handbook, a holistic approach to application performance monitoring/management must include the adoption of a system of service level agreements to ensure efficiency of business processes and user satisfaction for a handful of key applications, as well as automatic discovery of every element in the IT infrastructure that supports each service.

This, in turn, enables an IT organization to design two-way mappings between the services and supporting infrastructure parts, which can then help to facilitate root cause analysis.

However, several technical factors come into play when it comes to the ability of IT organizations to perform application performance monitoring tasks.

Port hopping: Often used to avoid detection and blocking by firewalls, as well as to identify the application that generated a particular packet, port hopping can create significant management and security challenges.

Instant messaging: AOL’s (News - Alert) Instant Messenger is an example of on application that uses port hopping. When blocked, AIM can jump the blocked port to circumvent the firewall, which is certainly troublesome for network management.

Peer-to-peer networks and Skype (News - Alert): Skype uses a peer-to-peer computer network to leverage connectivity between the participants in a network. However, many of these applications, including Skype change the port they use each time they start. If one Skype client happens to connect with an infected client, then the machines connected to it can be infected with no protection from the firewall.

Port 80 Black Hole: With many enterprise applications accessed through browsers over port 80, this presents a security and management challenge for most IT organizations as there is a lack of visibility into the traffic that transports port 80. This, in turn, can cause difficulties in managing the performance of business-critical applications and complying with government regulations, and can make networks susceptible to security breaches and charges of copyright violation.

Mobility: A growing number of mobility users are now making application performance monitoring more complex for organizations as they now have to support this usage. Packet loss can often result from wireless networks, which in turn results in reduction in throughput.

Cloud computing: Once applications are moved to the cloud, it is often difficult for an organization to predict how a change in the IT environment will impact performance.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein