ASM tools provide application support and infrastructure owners the visibility required to manage the performance and availability of applications deployed in virtualized data centers. The ASM approach includes three critical elements:

-- Application discovery and mapping: Discovery and mapping of application connections, processes and interdependencies, allowing for visibility into both physical and virtual environments.

-- Service-level health measurement: Service-level performance intelligence detailing connections, usage and application access times, depicting the relative health of complex applications.

-- Triage of application and server problems: Performance indicators highlight areas of concern, showing where to focus efforts to solve problems and optimize the IT environment.

Since ASM stresses a business-centric approach, application support and infrastructure owners can align service-level objectives with overarching business priorities. This application-centric approach helps clarify goals across organizations and improves responsiveness.