Dynatrace is one of the best APM tools you can use
November 08, 2019

Dynatrace is one of the best APM tools you can use

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Dynatrace

We used Dynatrace to identify performance problems across our suite of ERP systems that included Sage X3, a custom work order management application, a custom application to extract BOMs from CAD drawings, and time and attendance software. The systems were connected with Web Services and many direct Database calls. Our SQL Server Enterprise software ran about 30 different databases. We had about 11 different sites accessing our servers in a COLO data center.

The user experience was terrible, but we didn't know if it was the network, WAN (DIA circuits on VPN), Servers (Virtualized), SAN performance, Database performance, or slow performance from the ERP servers managing web services. Using Dynatrace, we started seeing several problems. First, the database server was running at high CPU utilization and high Memory utilization. We moved non-ERP databases to a different server. Then we started seeing buffer overflow errors and that led us down the path of examining the I-O operations on the SAN. We concluded that the IO demand exceeded the capacity of our SAN (a 4-year-old Hybrid SAN). We determined that we needed to upgrade to an All-Flash array (Pure Storage), and replace two of the 4 hosts with faster-performing Servers. While the CPU cycles were not maxed, we needed faster IO to handle user demand.
  • Analyzes and reports of user experiences from keyboard to screen refresh.
  • Uses AI and historical performance to detect changes in the environment and performance.
  • Extremely easy to install and deploy with very little risk of breaking applications.
  • It is very expensive but very powerful.
  • It helped us identify problems to restore employee productivity.
  • Helped user adoption of new systems by ensuring performance met expectations.
We looked at AppDynamics, but the installation and data collection mechanisms were far more demanding of IT Infrastructure and too way too much effort. Dynatrace was very quick and easy.
It worked very well, was easy to install and manage, and helped us identify and resolve our performance problems. It didn't require extensive training to use (although the training was helpful to get the maximum benefit out of the software).

Do you think Dynatrace delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Dynatrace's feature set?

Yes

Did Dynatrace live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Dynatrace go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Dynatrace again?

Yes

Dynatrace is very powerful and can analyze end to end performance simply by adding the agent to workstations and servers you want to instrument. It is very easy to install, and quick to be fully up and running. It is not suited for huge installations unless you're willing to fork over huge bags of cash, but it works very well on what systems you instrument.

Dynatrace Feature Ratings