Apdex

Overview

When application performance is monitored, organizations capture many metrics about the performance of IT applications. At first glance, these metrics often do not give a clear sense of how well these applications are performing from a business perspective. Reducing the metrics to a single, easy-to-understand metric is a simple way to determine the quality of the experience. This problem can be solved with the Apdex method. The Apdex method converts various metrics into a single number on a uniform scale of 0 to 1 (0 being frustrated, 1 being satisfied). The resulting Apdex value is a numerical measure of user satisfaction with the performance of the enterprise application.

Apdex in instana

Instana provides comprehensive Apdex capabilities as a standalone feature in the Service Levels section. You can create, manage, and monitor Apdex configurations independently.

To access Apdex capabilities, from the navigation menu, click Service Levels, and then click the Apdex tab. You can view the list of existing Apdex configurations, select an Apdex to view a detailed dashboard, and create new Apdex configurations.

You can create Apdex configurations for both application perspectives and websites.

For information about permissions and access requirements for Apdex, see Service level objectives.

Apdex dashboard overview

The Apdex tab in the Service Levels section shows an overview of all Apdex configurations, including their average score and status. You can sort the table by Name, Entity type, Entity name, or Average Apdex score. You can also search by Apdex name or use filters to narrow the view.

Apdex table

The table displays the following information:

• Name: The name of the Apdex configuration. The color indicator on the left shows the current satisfaction level based on the Apdex score.
• Entity type: The type of entity that is being monitored (Application or Website).
• Entity name: The name of the specific application or website that is associated with this Apdex configuration.
• Average Apdex score: The current Apdex score, which is displayed as a value between 0 and 1, along with the satisfaction level (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, or Unacceptable).
• Tags: Displays the tags that are associated with the Apdex configuration, which can be used to filter the view.
• Actions: Contains edit, copy, and delete buttons.

Apdex details

Select an Apdex configuration from the table to view its detailed dashboard. The dashboard provides two tabs:

Summary tab

The Summary tab displays the following information:

• Average score card: Shows the current average Apdex score (0 - 1) with its corresponding satisfaction level: Excellent (0.94 - 1.00), Good (0.85 - 0.93), Fair (0.70 - 0.84), Poor (0.50 - 0.69), or Unacceptable (0.00 - 0.49).
• Apdex score chart: Displays the Apdex score trend over time with color-coded zones:
  • Dark green zone (0.94 - 1.00): Excellent
  • Light green zone (0.85 - 0.93): Good
  • Yellow zone (0.70 - 0.84): Fair
  • Orange zone (0.50 - 0.69): Poor
  • Red zone (0.00 - 0.49): Unacceptable

The chart helps you visualize performance trends and identify periods where user satisfaction might have degraded.

Configuration tab

The Configuration tab displays the Apdex configuration details, including the following information:

• Entity: The application or website that is being monitored
• Scope: The configured scope (boundary, filters, beacon type)
• Indicator: The latency threshold in milliseconds

Options to edit, copy, or delete the Apdex configuration are available on this tab.

Creating an apdex configuration

To create an Apdex configuration, click Create Apdex from the Apdex tab. This action opens a multistep wizard to configure your Apdex:

Select entity type

Choose the entity type to measure:

• Application perspective: Measure the performance of calls in an application perspective
• Website: Measure the performance of beacons in a website

Select entity

After you select the entity type, choose the specific entity to monitor.

For applications

Select an application perspective from the searchable list of available application perspectives in your environment.

For websites

Select a website from the searchable list of available websites in your environment.

Define scope

Configure the scope to specify what data to measure. The scope configuration depends on the entity type.

Applications

• Calls in scope: Choose which calls to include:
  • Inbound calls: Include only calls that are initiated from outside the application where the destination service is part of the selected application perspective
  • All calls: Include both inbound calls from outside the application and calls that occur within the application perspective
• Include hidden calls (optional):
  • Internal calls: Calls that represent work that is done inside a service, created from intermediate spans that are sent through custom tracing. For more information, see Concepts of Tracing.
  • Synthetic calls: Calls with a Synthetic endpoint as the destination, such as calls to health-check endpoints.
• Custom filters (optional): Add custom filters to narrow down the scope of the measured calls. You can combine multiple filters to create composite queries as needed.

Websites

• Beacon: Select the beacon type to monitor. Currently, only HTTP requests are supported.
• Custom filters (optional): Add custom filters to narrow down the scope of the selected beacon type. You can combine multiple filters to create composite queries based on attributes such as geolocation, browser, or user.

Set indicator

Define the latency threshold for the Apdex calculation:

• Threshold: Enter your application's or website's optimal response time in milliseconds. This threshold defines the boundary between satisfied and tolerated performance.

The Apdex score is calculated based on this threshold:

• Satisfied: Response time ≤ threshold
• Tolerated: Response time > threshold and ≤ 4 × threshold
• Frustrated: Response time > 4 × threshold

The Apdex score formula is: Apdex = (Satisfied + (Tolerated / 2)) / Total

Enter details

1. Name: Specify a unique name for the Apdex configuration
2. Tags (optional): Add tags to categorize or filter the Apdex configuration

Click Create to save the new Apdex configuration.

Editing an apdex configuration

You can edit an existing Apdex configuration to update its name and tags.

To edit an Apdex configuration, complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Apdex tab in the Service Levels section.
2. In the Actions column, click the edit icon for the Apdex configuration that you want to modify.
3. Update the name or tags.
4. Click Save.

Copying an apdex configuration

You can copy an existing Apdex configuration to use as a starting point for a new configuration.

To copy an Apdex configuration, complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Apdex tab in the Service Levels section.
2. In the Actions column, click the copy icon for the Apdex configuration that you want to duplicate.
3. In the configuration wizard, modify the settings as needed, including the name.
4. Click Create.

Deleting an apdex configuration

To delete an Apdex configuration, complete the following steps:

1. Go to the Apdex tab in the Service Levels section.
2. In the Actions column, click the delete icon for the Apdex configuration that you want to remove.
3. Confirm the deletion.

Apdex on application and website dashboards

Apdex configurations are integrated into Application and Website dashboards, which provide quick access to Apdex data directly from the entity view.

Accessing Apdex from entity dashboards

To access Apdex from entity dashboards, complete the following steps:

1. Go to an Application perspective or Website dashboard.
2. Click the Service Levels tab.
3. Click the Apdex subtab.

The Apdex tab displays all Apdex configurations that are associated with the current application or website. The table view is the same as the main Apdex section.

This integration allows you to monitor Apdex scores in context with other application or website metrics, which provides a comprehensive view of performance and user satisfaction.

Apdex widgets

You can create custom dashboard widgets for your Apdex configurations to display and analyze performance over time. For more information about creating Apdex widgets, see Service level objectives widgets.