Increasing reliance on web-based applications has had significant implications for both IT staff and business managers. IT’s primary responsibility and ongoing challenge is to provide a reliable high-performance web applications services environment, an environment that ensures the end user’s ability to successfully interact with web applications while enabling IT to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Anything less than superior application performance can have immediate consequences.

To meet demand, IT is utilizing new technologies such as Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and server virtualization, technologies that add another layer to this alreadycomplex infrastructure including, networks, servers, firewalls and other components. With so many interconnected fast-moving parts, there is potential for many points of failure.