Cisco Unveils AI-Driven Self-Hosted Observability

Cisco has introduced a groundbreaking virtual appliance for its AppDynamics On-Premises application observability suite, marking a significant leap in self-hosted observability solutions empowered by AI-driven intelligence. This advancement enables customers to harness anomaly detection, root cause analysis, application security, and SAP monitoring capabilities with unparalleled efficiency and control. The latest innovations empower IT operations teams to swiftly identify application performance irregularities, fortify against security threats, and optimize SAP application performance while maintaining full autonomy over their observability deployment.

The unveiling of AppDynamics Flex introduces a flexible licensing model, offering customers the choice between self-hosted and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) observability solutions. This strategic move aims to support businesses in seamlessly transitioning from self-hosted to SaaS offerings according to their evolving needs.

Despite the growing popularity of SaaS observability solutions, there remains a strong demand for self-hosted alternatives, particularly among industries with stringent data residency regulations and security considerations. For sectors like public services, finance, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail, the ability to deploy cutting-edge self-hosted observability solutions ensures uninterrupted monitoring of critical business systems, facilitating the delivery of superior digital experiences to customers and users.

Ronak Desai, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Cisco AppDynamics and Full-Stack Observability, expressed enthusiasm about delivering AI-powered innovations through the AppDynamics On-Premises virtual appliance, emphasizing its role in accelerating deployment of new features and streamlining operational processes.

Key innovations include:

– AI-Powered Detection and Remediation leveraging the Cognition Engine: Enhancing anomaly detection accuracy through dynamic baseline performance analysis, thereby reducing mean time to identify application performance issues. Automated transaction diagnostics enable swift resolution of performance issues through root cause analysis, supported by intelligent issue identification.

– Application Security bolstered by Cisco Secure Application: Identifying and prioritizing application security vulnerabilities based on business risk scores, fortified by Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) to defend against exploits targeting application vulnerabilities.

– Resilient SAP Landscape Management: Providing full-stack observability for SAP and non-SAP environments to ensure service availability and performance, augmented by AI-driven insights for SAP-related security vulnerabilities mitigation and performance alignment with business outcomes.

– Self-Hosted Offerings in Cloud Environments: Enabling customers to manage observability deployments in AWS or Azure, facilitating compliance with data residency regulations or retaining control over observability solutions.

As digital transformation progresses, some IT teams may seek operational efficiency by transitioning observed workloads from self-hosted to SaaS observability solutions. Cisco’s AppDynamics Flex Licensing simplifies this transition, allowing organizations to reallocate on-premises observability investments to corresponding SaaS offerings while maintaining continuity with existing agent fleets.

Stephen Elliot, Group Vice President for IDC, highlighted the significance of AI-powered anomaly detection for on-premises customers, particularly in sectors with stringent security requirements and preference for self-hosted observability solutions.

Availability:

– The virtual appliance for Cisco AppDynamics On-Premises will be available in May 2024.

– Automated Transaction Diagnostics feature will debut in Q3 CY2024.

– AMI and VHD packages for self-hosted cloud-based deployments will be available in Q3 CY2024.

For pricing details and further information, please refer to the guidelines or reach out to Cisco.