AWS X-Ray vs IBM Application Performance Management comparison

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Amazon Web Services (AWS) Logo
7,074 views|6,293 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
IBM Logo
1,287 views|800 comparisons
62% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between AWS X-Ray and IBM Application Performance Management based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The solution has made it easier for us to trace the problems that we have with our requests and to monitor the timing of each step in each request we do in our endpoints.""AWS X-RAY identifies bottlenecks in terms of stability and performance and how long certain data lives in terms of response time and duration.""The most important one is compliance. We're able to achieve our regulatory levels. We're able to achieve the security level that we need for the federal government.""The most promising feature of AWS X-Ray is that you can debug the issues through the proper logs. You can also get an analysis out of the logs for some use cases, though I have yet to try all the features of AWS X-Ray.""AWS X-Ray is a strong solution and has a smooth integration process.""It is a very scalable solution."

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"It's easy to use.""The initial setup was straightforward and took minimal effort.""IBM Application Performance Management helped us increased our response time by 80% and cost 60% less.""The transaction tracking feature from IBM is the most important feature for us. It is something that provides a terrific value for us and our clients. It has a lot of data sources and agents that are collectors. It is also stable.""Because we have partnerships with other partners, I can share a bit about what I've noticed with IBM APM compared to other vendor solutions. Specifically, with IBM, the visibility into detailed process information is more tangible. On the OS level, APM displays all processes (or the top 10 processes) that are consuming CPU or resident memory. This is the most important thing that is not always available with other vendors.""The most valuable feature is the breakdown that it provides, such as a description of the fields for a particular transaction.""I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten."

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Cons
"I do not have any notes in terms of improvements.""The user interface is sometimes kind of confusing to understand. It's not very user-friendly.""Like most Amazon products, the user interface, configuration, and tuning aren't the easiest. That's the biggest reason why people tend to go to products like TerraForm and Terragrunt. We use TerraForm and Terragrunt. So, for setting things up and interacting with X-Ray, it's definitely the user interface that can be better.""If you have a small team, it's probably overkill.""What needs to be better in AWS X-Ray is the log filtering. Predefined filters could be helpful because the power of analytics comes from how you can filter the data. I also want to see more KPIs from AWS X-Ray.""They can improve how traces are sent to other providers."

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"It's still missing some platforms. For example, if you look to applications itself, it is missing the interface.""With APM, we noticed that the agent can cause a lot of issues for the application, making the agent very unreliable. Many issues are happening, and we've had to discuss it with support to try and get a fix. It affects application availability, and sometimes actions fail because of the agent, degrading the performance of the application.""Its web user interface is a little bit old in comparison to other solutions, such as New Relic, and it should be improved. Its scalability and technical support should also be improved. Currently, it is scalable, but only in a vertical way. They provide good technical support, but the initial steps for a new case can be improved to fasten the resolution process.""They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy.""Technical support can be slow and needs improvement.""The demo that was provided to us is not working very well. At times, there are errors.""The stability is not great and should be better."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The pricing for AWS X-Ray is a six out of ten."
  • "As you develop a relationship with Amazon, your pricing gets lower. You get credits for the amount of the system you use, and then if you're the government, you can get government pricing. For commercial users, there's a hump when you go from small to medium to big enterprise. Small businesses can live pretty easily off the free tier in a lot of cases, but when you go from a medium to a big enterprise, it becomes more expensive on a per-user basis. I'd like to see that curve going in a different way where pricing can be driven down while people are trying to adopt the technology."
  • "The solution is a bit expensive."
  • More AWS X-Ray Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "IBM APM is one of the cheaper products on the market, while everything necessary to get started is included in the license."
  • "The licensing fees can be paid every six months or on a yearly basis."
  • "As I previously indicated, I initiated the IBM and uncovered all its elements. Consequently, I'm not inclined towards a licensing approach."
  • More IBM Application Performance Management Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:AWS X-Ray is a strong solution and has a smooth integration process.
    Top Answer:They can improve how traces are sent to other providers.
    Top Answer:They should focus on potentially enhancing the dashboard to make it more contemporary and adding some customization options. Furthermore, there might be room for improvement in the pricing policy. The… more »
    Top Answer:I monitor business applications for more than four end users.
    Ranking
    Views
    7,074
    Comparisons
    6,293
    Reviews
    5
    Average Words per Review
    547
    Rating
    8.2
    Views
    1,287
    Comparisons
    800
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    298
    Rating
    6.0
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    IBM APM
    Learn More
    Overview

    AWS X-Ray is a powerful debugging and performance analysis tool offered by Amazon Web Services. It allows developers to trace requests made to their applications and identify bottlenecks and issues. 

    With X-Ray, developers can visualize the entire request flow and pinpoint the exact location where errors occur. It provides detailed insights into the performance of individual components and helps optimize the overall application performance. 

    X-Ray integrates seamlessly with other AWS services, making it easy to trace requests across different services and identify dependencies. It also offers a comprehensive set of APIs and SDKs, enabling developers to instrument their applications and capture valuable data for analysis. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, AWS X-Ray is a valuable tool for developers looking to improve the performance and reliability of their applications.

    The IBM Application Performance Management portfolio provides visibility, control and automation of your mission-critical applications. It helps pinpoint the root cause of application's issue more quickly and resolve the problem. The integrated capabilities cover the five key areas: discovery, end-use experience, transaction tracking, enterprise diagnostics and analytics. It also easily monitors applications to ensure optimal performance to extend your hybrid management environment capabilities, to measure the customer experience from multiple locations and to further eliminate blind spots in your application environment.
    Sample Customers
    COMCAST, ConnectWise, skyscanner, AirAsia, cookpad, cimpress, VTEX, zowdow
    Mibtree, EatDrinkDeals.com, IT Performance Advisor
    Top Industries
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company16%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Comms Service Provider6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company19%
    Government11%
    University7%
    Company Size
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise69%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business67%
    Midsize Enterprise11%
    Large Enterprise22%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise69%
    Buyer's Guide
    AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    AWS X-Ray is ranked 13th in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability with 6 reviews while IBM Application Performance Management is ranked 52nd in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability with 7 reviews. AWS X-Ray is rated 8.0, while IBM Application Performance Management is rated 6.4. The top reviewer of AWS X-Ray writes "Saves time, is relatively cheap, and helps find errors". On the other hand, the top reviewer of IBM Application Performance Management writes "A multi-functional solution but has poor stability and performance-related issues". AWS X-Ray is most compared with Datadog, Azure Monitor, New Relic and Sentry, whereas IBM Application Performance Management is most compared with Instana Dynamic APM, Dynatrace, BMC Compuware Strobe and IBM Tivoli Composite Application Manager. See our AWS X-Ray vs. IBM Application Performance Management report.

    See our list of best Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability vendors.

    We monitor all Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.