Apica vs IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager comparison

Apica and IBM are both solutions in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category. Apica is ranked #17 with an average rating of 7.7, while IBM is ranked #60. Apica holds a 0.3% mindshare in APM, compared to IBM’s 0.2% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of Apica users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of IBM users who would recommend it.

Apica

Read 11 Apica reviews

1,060 Views
668 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Read 2 IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager reviews

554 Views
515 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Apica

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager and Apica compete in the application performance management sector. Apica appears superior due to its extensive features, seamless deployment, and strong support despite Tivoli’s better pricing and ROI.

What features are offered by IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to Apica?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager offers comprehensive monitoring, analytical capabilities, and strong monitoring features. Apica provides real-time synthetic monitoring, extensive integrations, and proactive issue detection.

What areas of improvement can be found in IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to Apica?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager could enhance its reporting, improve analytics capabilities, and better dashboard customization. Apica could benefit from an improved alert system, reduce false positives, and better user permissions management.

How is the ease of deployment and customer service of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to Apica?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager has a complex deployment process, but benefits from strong customer service. Apica offers straightforward deployment and responsive support, delivering a smoother initial setup experience.

What setup costs and ROI can be seen with IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager in comparison to Apica?

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is cost-effective and offers good ROI through its comprehensive features. Apica, though pricier, provides satisfactory ROI due to its feature-rich offerings and seamless integration, making it a worthy investment despite higher initial costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Apica vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Apica vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

July 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Apica

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

17th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Log Management (18th), IT Operations Analytics (5th), Observability Pipeline Software (2nd)

IBM Tivoli Composite Applic...

Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

60th

Average Rating

6.6

Reviews Sentiment

4.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Apica is 0.3%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager is 0.2%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

Featured Reviews

Punith H K

Senior Systems Engineer at Infosys

Enables users to create scripts easily and provides excellent real-time monitoring features

It is easy to create scripts. We don't have to write any script. Ready-made options are available. We can select, drag, and drop the options, and the script is ready. The solution’s real-time monitoring features have had a huge impact on our service delivery. If we have an application and the script for it, we keep monitoring it. When the script goes red, it indicates that something is not working. So, we check and analyze the applications. We keep track of applications and monitor whether they are live or not. The tool is also useful for monitoring cloud services.

Read full review

Christian Campos

Sales manager at Prodeo Innovation

Integrates well with IBM technologies, but it's outdated and lacks essential features

Implementing synthetic monitoring for our Internet banking site has been challenging. The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively. I have concerns about the complexity of the tool and the challenges in managing it effectively. The support provided is not satisfactory, and the specialists available lack sufficient training and expertise in using the tool.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Apica allows me to record APIs easily and enhances scripts through options like auto-correlation, enabling me to access dynamic fields."

"With the ZebraTester, the ability to have and store dynamic variables, when setting up the monitors, means you can extract that value and use it in a subsequent service call. This is something that has made our lives easier... This is one of the features that I like the most because it helps us in configuring these services, in a certain flow, without the need to re-record the whole thing."

"As always, within the IT industry, everybody's always looking to upgrade and update everything else like that. Apica has been one of those things but it's really hard to replace because it offers us the unique capability to see what the customer is seeing. A lot of other ones can do Selenium script and things like that, but there's a lot in Apica that we use right now. We utilize a lot of the scenario options in Apica right now, and there's a lot of other ones that do parts of it, but it doesn't do everything that Apica does."

"APICa allows me to record APIs easily and enhances scripts through options like auto-correlation, enabling me to access dynamic fields."

"There are several features that are really good. The first one is the flexibility and the advanced configuration that Apica offers when it comes to configuring synthetic checks. It provides the ability to customize how the check should be performed and it is very flexible in the number of synthetic locations that it can use. It allows us to run scripts from different locations all over the world, and they have a really good number of these locations."

"It helps with releases because we monitor them in staging. We can tell if something is critically wrong before it gets into production, e.g., if it was load related or function related and also what was different in the dev stage. It then alerts us straightaway inside of our production monitors once it has been released. Therefore, it has improved how we run our systems since we monitor multiple environments."

"You can tell from the operational space of people who are using and consuming this data that they are more integrated. It is not dependent on one team anymore. It saves a lot of time by capturing and pinpointing the exact problem that is happening quickly. We have moved from getting escalations manually to getting escalations synthetically."

"What I like the most is that Apica can simulate different browsers and different versions of desktop or mobile browsers."

More Apica pros

"IBM's main value lies in its integration with its own technologies, which can be seen as a benefit in environments where IBM products are extensively used."

"The solution is very stable. We never had any issues with stability."

Cons

"The tool does not provide automatic correlation features."

"There are some components of the user interface that are not up to date. Just to give you an idea, today we have web applications that are called single-page applications that are much faster than the old style of web application. If we can move faster into the flow of the graphic user interface, and in a more effective way, it will save us a lot of time."

"I have noticed that the tool isn't widely recognized outside our organization. Also, there aren't any tutorials or dedicated resources for this tool, making it challenging for newcomers to learn. It would be beneficial if someone experienced with it could provide guidance."

"Apica should add more features and integrations with different tools and certain ticketing systems, like ServiceNow."

"The having to install an application on your desktop to utilize something like ZebraTester is a little cumbersome. It would be nice to see that become a web-based application. Having the documentation a little more accessible, and easier to digest by people who are just learning how to use the framework, especially when it comes to more complex or more edge-based cases would be really helpful to have."

"Alerting needs improvement. It's a little noisy. It needs some better options. Currently, they have an issue, when you set up a synthetic monitor, you can set up where it's monitoring from, a data center that Apica owns."

"The customer service and support were a little slow to respond. The browser sometimes checks alerts on unknown issues like latency from Apica's side."

"The accuracy of alerts can be improved a little bit. Right now, it's pretty good in terms of alerting pretty quickly about failures or changes in response times. However, what we have seen happen is the number of alerts that we are getting is very frequent, and we would like to tone down the number of alerts. That's the only trouble we have. Apica could tone down those settings because there is no option for us to tone it down to a level that would reduce the alerts to a minimum. As a platform, it does send us good alerts, but it could be improved a bit."

More Apica cons

"The installation process is difficult, requiring continuous support and specialist expertise due to our limited knowledge of managing it effectively."

"The user interface was not good."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing and licensing are very reasonable. At the end of the day, you are using their technology/software and getting X amount of checks for a very decent value. As for discounts, they try to meet your budgets as much as they can. For example, if you need 100 checks and you have X amount of budget for it, then they will try and get down to that price. Costing-wise, it is a reasonably cost product. They will always try and come down to your price if you need them to come down to it by knocking off certain areas."

"The solution's pricing is not cheap, but it is in the midrange."

"The product is less expensive compared to LoadRunner."

"I know Apica is an expensive solution, but it is worth the money for the service it provides."

"Another main difference between Apica and the other products was the cost. We really thought that the balance in Apica between the features and costs was the best among all the products on which we did a PoC."

"The tool is completely free and open source. I've been using it for about two and a half years and installed it on both my personal and client machines without needing a license. All features are available for use without any hidden fees."

"The pricing is fair. It is neither too cheap nor too expensive."

"Apica is pretty cost-effective if you buy both solutions together: Synthetic and LoadTest. If you are going for one solution, the cost is on par with any tool in the market."

More Apica pricing and cost advice

"I would rate the pricing a nine to ten. It is very expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Media Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Retailer

Financial Services Firm

30%

Government

11%

Healthcare Company

Non Profit

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Apica Synthetic?

The GUI is powerful and doesn't require scripting or regular expressions. It has a vast finder for correlation, which is easier than other tools like JMeter and LoadRunner. It's also easy to integr...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Apica Synthetic?

I know Apica is an expensive solution, but it is worth the money for the service it provides.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Apica Synthetic?

Apica cannot perform endurance or scale-up tests independently. It requires other tools like ALM. When editing scripts, only one can be accessed at a time, risking changes affecting other folders. ...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Apica

August 2025

Download Apica product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability

August 2025

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager report

Download IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager product report

Also Known As

Apica LoadTest, Apica Synthetic

Tivoli Composite Application Manager

Overview

Apica leads in observability cost optimization, empowering IT teams to manage telemetry data economics efficiently. It supports various data types, reducing costs by 40% with flexible deployment options and eliminating tool sprawl through modular solutions.

Apica Ascent optimizes observability costs across metrics, logs, traces, and events and provides adaptability beyond proprietary formats. Its patented InstaStore™ technology ensures maximum storage efficiency and advanced root cause analysis. Organizations leverage Apica for comprehensive control over observability investments, reducing runaway costs. With solutions for mitigating high-cardinality data challenges, Apica supports any data lake preference and offers cloud or on-premises deployments. Its modular solutions eliminate unnecessary tool redundancies, enhancing economic efficiency in telemetry data management.

What features define Apica's capabilities?

Global Presence: Extensive points of presence worldwide
Advanced Alerting: Accurate system notifications
Robust Scripting: Supports multiple protocols easily
Flexible Integration: Effortless system connections
Environment Simulation: Adapts various test scenarios globally

Which benefits should users expect from Apica?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces observability costs by 40%
Data Flexibility: Supports any data source
Modular Approach: Eliminates tool redundancies
Advanced Analysis: Enhanced root cause capabilities
Deployment Variety: Cloud and on-premises options available

Apica addresses industry needs in monitoring and testing applications, enhancing user experience across sectors. It is instrumental in synthetic checks, load testing, API monitoring, and validating functionalities for stability in gaming, finance, eCommerce, and banking platforms. Apica's versatility supports both on-premises and cloud environments, ensuring accurate insights into service availability and network performance.

Apica

IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager for Application Diagnostics on z/OS manages real-time problem detection, analysis, and repair to help maintain the availability, performance and general health of on-demand composite applications. it can gain in-depth diagnostic information for specific application requests to identify the root cause of problems. This software provides a consistent way to manage composite applications throughout Java EE application environments. Set alerts to help detect and fix potentially troublesome situations before they affect users. It can resolve performance issues faster and reduce downtime costs.

IBM

Sample Customers

HBO, JPMC, Morgan Stanley, Xander, EA Sports, Volvo

Michelin Tire Corp

Buyer's Guide

Apica vs. IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager

July 2025

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