Keynote Focuses On Cloud Application Performance

Monitoring tools typically arrive after a technology has begun to take root. With cloud computing gaining so much buzz recently, Keynote Systems threw its hat into the cloud application performance monitoring arena.The Keynote Cloud Application Perspective (CAP) examines Web application performance inside private clouds, which are applications sitting behind a firewall. Customers place CAP software agents on their own private or third party cloud infrastructure. The MyKeynote portal provides dashboards, so companies can evaluate alerts regarding Web application performance. Businesses can set the system to examine performance in 1, 5, 15, 30, or 60 minute intervals, and various diagnostic features help them pinpoint performance bottlenecks. Pricing for the Keynote service is usage based, with the monitoring of a single system starting at $500 per month.

Cloud computing is becoming more popular because if offers companies a way to more effectively use their data center infrastructure. Monitoring tools are arising from various market sectors: network and systems management suppliers, Web management tools, enterprise application performance monitoring suppliers, and the cloud service suppliers themselves.

Founded in 1995, Keynote has carved out a viable niche by focusing on Web application performance services. To expand its business, the vendor is now branching out into the private cloud area. The company legacy is such that one would expect that the service would deliver beneficial information. Small and medium businesses will need to determine if the service pricing meets their needs. In general, the service is used for revenue generating applications, such as ecommerce systems, rather than daily business applications, such as a back office solutions.