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Broadcom DX Application Performance Management vs Instana Dynamic APM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 24, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Broadcom DX Application Per...
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
31st
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
162
Ranking in other categories
Container Monitoring (8th)
Instana Dynamic APM
Ranking in Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
19th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability category, the mindshare of Broadcom DX Application Performance Management is 0.5%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Instana Dynamic APM is 1.0%, down from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Performance Monitoring (APM) and Observability
 

Featured Reviews

Marco Aurelio - PeerSpot reviewer
Simple setup, light on resources, but lacking compatibility with applications
We are currently in the process of evaluating other options for APM. We are looking at Cisco and Dynatrace. We are also considering replacing our CA solution for server and network monitoring with Zabbix. We have two large licenses but they are old and we are planning to move to the cloud. The new version of Broadcom DX Application Performance Management does not yet have a cloud option, but we did receive an offer for upgrading to a SaaS solution. However, it still does not have support for OpenShift 4 because it uses agents installed within the image. As we are migrating to OpenShift 4, this solution will not work for us. Our purchasing process is public, as a public government bank, and it is published in the journal, and Broadcom probably saw that they did not have a solution for our requirements because of the use of agents inside the image. 10 technicians can handle the maintenance of the solution. This covers the needs of a financial institution that needs support 24 hours a day. I would recommend Broadcom DX Application Performance Management for small to medium infrastructures. It is very scalable and stable. Additionally, the suite has good integration with the CA help desk system, which makes it more efficient for resolving issues. One advantage of Broadcom's solution is that it is fully integrated, unlike other solutions, such as Dynatrace APM which require linking to a separate ticketing software. This solution is a good option to have a fully integrated suite. I do not view the limitation with OpenShift 4 as a problem with Broadcom, as it is specific to our environment. If you use other containerization methods, such as OpenShift 3 or others, this issue would not be present. The cost of training is also relatively low when compared to other solutions like Cisco's support. It is less expensive to certify your personnel with Broadcom. Other solutions that are well-positioned in Gartner's Quadrant, such as Dynatrace, tend to be more expensive in terms of training. Broadcom is not well-positioned in Gartner's Quadrant for APM solutions, as it works as a suite and not as a specialized APM solution. Solutions, such as Dynatrace, on the other hand, are specifically for APM and are well-positioned in Gartner's Quadrant as recommended solutions to buy. Broadcom is ranked relatively low in Gartner's grading. I rate Broadcom DX Application Performance Management a seven out of ten. The version we are currently using of Broadcom DX Application Performance Management is not very recent, and even the newer versions don't have as advanced features as other solutions, particularly in terms of APM and cloud capabilities. However, I still consider it a good grade, not a bad one, because the solution is very stable and has good scalability.
Muhammad Jawwad Hassan - PeerSpot reviewer
A really good GUI that is easy for non-technical users to understand
Our company uses the solution for one of our bank clients. We use App Connect middleware to monitor services and applications such as Docker, Kubernetes, MongoDB, and MS SQL Server. We also monitor the bottleneck for all servers.  We currently have 20 users at one of our branches. We plan to expand…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Product performance is awesome. It's covering all aspects of the application; good database metrics and internal application metrics. Just tons and tons of data."
"We receive good transactions from it with good graphs, as well, documenting the activities of total visitors on the site. We can pull the reports and provide them to the client, as required."
"Command center is a new feature that provides agent maintenance and support without involving the application team. It saves lots of time for APM team."
"The APM tool allows us to monitor performance of that application, where are the pain points, where are the slowdowns, to focus on where we can fix those."
"Users no longer need to depend upon the console for a compatible Java version. Now, users can directly learn the version, perform all their actions, and see all of those performance-related issues."
"For me, the most valuable feature is being able to check memory patterns. We check them when we do load testing or soak testing to see if there are any memory leaks."
"We understand for APM, it has the ability to drill down and do the end-to-end monitoring that we are looking for."
"The insight it gives into the applications that it's actually applied to, and the flexibility to do many things with those metrics, and also feed your own metrics from external sources."
"Visually, it's very good. It provides everything needed for dynamic detection, which is very useful."
"Its GUI is really good and it easy to understand for non-technical users."
"If a key monitored value has crossed a threshold, it sends out an alert. And the solution is able to intelligently find out if something is beyond the range that it normally resides in."
"It is user-friendly, but we encounter issues processing input and understanding the graphics, such as seeing a flatline without knowing the cause. When these problems occur, I have to contact my support team to address and fix them. Also, monitoring processing is good."
"It is a stable solution."
"With Instana, the interface and the UI are very simple to use."
"The detailing of our application behavior and user experience is most valuable. In case there is an issue, we typically use Instana to figure it out. We can drill down to the application and figure out what's going on and where the issue is."
"The primary selling point of this product is its unparalleled transparency into the infrastructure."
 

Cons

"We need more capabilities to analyze the information that tools collects; for example, using artificial intelligence, or something like that."
"Documentation needs to be centralized."
"With respect to SQL monitoring, it would be nice to have a little more information because it doesn't provide the full statement all of the time."
"However, ten years ago, the solution was better, and now there are many competitive options."
"The area of improvement is related to the areas of application onboarding and instrumentation, where the product has certain shortcomings."
"They can make it easier to configure."
"Needs custom dashboards."
"Its profiling. The uniqueness instead of me looking at sampling data, I need to know the m-1 event that actually triggered my scenario where that m event caused a catastrophic event, like a ripple effect; I need to know that m-1. What triggered my major event means I need to understand the event that triggered it and before the cause of that event itself."
"The solution's monitoring is pretty weak and should be improved."
"The App Connect middleware does not integrate with or show corresponding sub nodes."
"We'd always like to see additional functionalities."
"They could improve the product’s dashboards and provide more dashboard options."
"The configuration of Instana Dynamic APM needs improvement because it requires quite a bit of work."
"The auto-remediation features must be improved."
"Many managers, as well as our customers, used to ask for reports, such as "top X number of queries that are slow," or "top pages that have the highest number of issues." This is something that can be improved by Instana. Currently, they don't have that kind of reporting available out-of-the-box."
"Its SLI and SLA features need improvement in setting up alerts."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Depends on the size of the product you need."
"On pricing, CA is very competitive. I think that's going to help in the long run."
"Negotiate a lot, but do not forget to buy the product because it is worth it."
"The licensing costs are expensive."
"The pricing structure should be based on memory or CPU usage rather than the number of agents, as it makes the solution more expensive for us."
"Althougth it is a bit expensive, it is really worth it"
"All discounts are case by case to accommodate the client's budgets."
"There is some research needed to determine licensing costs, based on the number of DataPower instances for the Nastel agent, for example."
"The solution's pricing is comparable to other products."
"The solution is less expensive than one of its competitors."
"Its pricing isn't a big pain point. Its pricing seems to be better than some of the other competing products in the market, but they also have some of the features and functionalities that are better than Instana."
"It's reasonably priced and manageable, especially for individuals who grasp the significance of application monitoring."
"Instana Dynamic APM is more affordable for small and medium-sized companies compared to other vendors."
"The pricing is $1,200 per year which is a bit high compared to other vendors."
"Pricing is quite competitive. Dynatrace, AppDynamics, and New Relic were all several times more expensive than Instana, both the on-prem and the SaaS versions. Price-wise they are a lot more competitive than anyone else out there."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
19%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Broadcom DX Application Performance Management?
Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...there is a very easy way to deal with it by adding more servers to the application.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Broadcom DX Application Performance Management?
The initial pricing is reasonable and competitive compared to other solutions. The challenge arises during annual renewals, as the price increase can be significant, around twenty percent or more, ...
What needs improvement with Broadcom DX Application Performance Management?
The first area for improvement is the discovery feature, which should be enhanced to collect comprehensive information from applications and services. This includes using agents or scripts to gathe...
What do you like most about Instana Dynamic APM?
The platform’s most valuable feature is the ability to monitor the performance of containers for request and response analysis.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Instana Dynamic APM?
I rate the pricing a seven out of ten. There are no additional costs associated with the product.
What needs improvement with Instana Dynamic APM?
Sometimes, the issue arises from user changes, such as adjusting firewall settings without proper consideration, leading to compatibility issues within the network monitoring.
 

Also Known As

DX APM, CA APM, CA NetQoS Performance Center, Wily Introscope, CA Wily APM, CA App Experience Analytics, CA AXA
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lexmark, Intermountain Healthcare, National Australia Bank, BBVA Compass Bank, Innovapost, Dansk Supermarked Group, U.S. Cellular, Orange, Cetip
Daxko Lifts Fitness Studios Through COVID Regulations with Quick Engineering PivotsAltissia Meets SLAs to Support Student DeadlinesImmocloud Unlocks Observability to Modernize Real EstateEnento Group Boosts Service Reliability with Real-Time Visibility into Application Performance Instana’s Observability for Amazon EKS Helps Yara Deliver Digital Farming Solutions
Find out what your peers are saying about Broadcom DX Application Performance Management vs. Instana Dynamic APM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.