AppDynamics is an APM and Mobile APM program, with application mapping and predictive capabilities. These capacities enable automated remediation and code-level diagnostics in real time. It can be deployed on-premise or as a SaaS.
AppDynamics, in our organization, has given us a comprehensive and real time view of our environment. Appdynamics is great for drilling down and identifying trouble spots quickly.
AppDynamics is well suited to large IT organizations ie telcos where there is legacy combined with modern systems ie containerized environments and cloud deployments, mobile, web as well as onprem. AppDynamics can follow the transactions into all of these areas and provide a single view on the health of the systems.
For either DB2 or zLinux, Tivoli is hands-down the best solution. For Oracle and other operating systems, there are more advanced solutions available. Some of these features are considered "game-changing" by our Sys Admins. Of the three solutions I've dealt with, Tivoli ranks right in the middle with cost, features, and complexity. A nice solution (and the best for the options I listed above), but not cutting-edge.
Tivoli is not manageable from the GUI console and I believe it needs a dedicated resource to manage the software.
Tivoli (TSM) configuration is complex, granular, and scalable with customizable configuration features, but it requires a good administrator that has a strong knowledge of the product.
It needs additional agents or plugins for administration; for example, I have to use an MMC plug-in on the servers.
AppDynamics has its own community site that includes forums and a knowledge base. On the forums, you can converse with other members of the community and ask technical questions as you have them. Though this forum isn’t filled with people there are active members for you to gain some valuable insights.
AppDynamics is easy to use when compared with Datadog and provide rich user interface. We prefer AppDynamics as it gives more data insight. We can easily install the AppDynamics agent and integrate with application. Also AppDynamics subscription cost was in budget with our organization that result in overall business growth.
Tivoli sits right in the middle of these two products, all things considered. Each has its own strengths (Cohesity has bells and whistles, CommVault works well with Microsoft). Tivoli is a nice blend and rock-solid once implemented.