If you aren’t already familiar with the ins and outs of APM (Application Performance Management) and its growing importance to today’s business world, read this enlightening article that Stackify wrote on that very topic.

But let me just say in brief that APM is becoming more and more crucial with every passing year as the centrality of applications to a plethora of business activities keeps driving the APM market.

But here we want to press past the APM phenomenon in its basic form and address the growing popularity of APM as a service (APMaaS) and two other important tech trends that might well become crucial to your network-based “money tree” as the future unfolds before us.

1. The Rise of APMaaS

In recent years, traditional network monitoring services have been gradually giving way to what is termed “application performance management.” This shift is based on the fact that corporations are moving toward measuring their “network success” based on performance levels of their host of applications rather than simply based on “general network health.”

This is leading to a new set of metrics, like application availability and application experience-quality, versus mere “network up-time.” And as applications become more numerous, more complex, and more crucial to business operations, it is increasingly tempting to outsource their management to a skilled set of “behind the scenes” professionals.

So far, APMaaS is a small but growing trend; but many already predict it is the wave of the future.

2. DevOPs and Continuous Delivery

For those who develop at least some of their business software in-house or who sell software as a product or service to others, DevOPs is the new, innovative development operations philosophy that is making big waves.

DevOPs is a method production based on a culture of intense collaboration and fluid communication. It is a “way of life” in the software development work space that aims to streamline and virtually automate the construction, testing, and release of new software products.

Nearly synonymous with the idea of DevOPS is that of “continuous delivery,” which is a process used to move new software along like clockwork. It aims to make the process so fast, reliable, and low-risk that it virtually becomes boring.

And while “boring” may not seem very attractive, DevOPs programming engineers are already some of the most highly paid in the IT industry; and that’s because they make their companies more efficient, competitive, and profitable. Now that actually does sound attractive.

3. The Hybrid Cloud

The many advantages of Cloud data storage/access, not least of all its highly convenient use with mobile devices, is “old hat” by now. But a more recent trend is the proliferation of “hybrid clouds” in many business environments.

A part-cloud, part-in-house data storage system might come about due to the desire to continue to use expensive equipment the company has already invested in. That would mean a full move to Cloud-based operation might lie in the future.

But instead, many companies are purposefully choosing to permanently stay in a hybrid cloud setup. Why? Because speed, security, and compliance issues are not always best met via cloud; and yet, there are many “deep storage” and backup storage items that the cloud is perfect (and very popular) for.

Thus, data storage is undergoing a kind of electronic “division of labor.” Stored items are classified and stored according what works best for the kind of data it is. Public Cloud is great for data sharing and distribution and for archiving, backup, and recovery. But “private clouds” can sometimes be better for many other day to day business operations.