What is our primary use case?
We use it to monitor servers. It's just a log in New Relic. I set the start and end times, and then I just pull down the server metrics.
It's not the New Relic APM, it's just the New Relic. There is the one that is New Relic, and then is New Relic APM. It's a bit confusing.
Normally when I use it, it takes me 20 minutes to pull all the data, and I use it maybe once or twice in a month.
We would run a low test, and then after the test, we would log into New Relic and then look at things, including: what are the top five slowest interactions on the servers? What are the slowest database calls? Then, we just pull the graphs from New Relic, and then we give it to the customer and show them here are the calls are being made the most, and that correlates to a slow response time. Then they'll be able to focus on it and try to maybe fix it.
How has it helped my organization?
There's another user on our team that sets up the list of servers that need to be monitored. You just click on those servers and then from there you can pull all the data, so that's really helpful. You don't have to go through a list of 500 servers. You click on one server, and it brings up ten servers that are in that environment. You don't have to choose those same ten every time. Instead, you just click on that one link. You just have to click on the name of the group you want to look at, and it'll pull metrics for those same ten or 15 servers each time. That's very helpful.
What is most valuable?
The customization of the start and end time is kind of cool.
It's stable.
The solution can scale.
What needs improvement?
One of the metrics is total time. I would like to see the true response time of a particular call. It might say top five slowest calls. However, I don't know how they're calculating it. Maybe if they could have documentation for how those things are calculated, that would be a lot easier. If they say the top five slowest methods and the slowest one is three seconds, yet we know that there's a process that's taking ten seconds, it can be kind of confusing. If they could add in their help files, how these columns are calculated, that would make it more transparent. They need to clarify: What does it mean, total time? And how do they calculate the total time? How do they calculate average time? How do they calculate the top five slowest? What is it actually pulling?
I would like to see them introduce integration with LoadRunner; that's a bit easier.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for six to eight months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a very stable product. Overall it's a good product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have eight or ten people using the solution at this time. It is used occasionally, once or twice a month, just to pull out the data for the server monitoring and for the reports.
The solution can scale well.
How are customer service and support?
I've never called New Relic support. I never really needed to.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm also aware of Dynatrace. In Dynatrace, they have an integration with LoadRunner. You just have to add one or two lines of code in LoadRunner, and it will integrate with that, which is really good.
New Relic doesn't have the option of integration with LoadRunner.
How was the initial setup?
I did not install New Relic. By the time I was put on the project, it had already been installed.
They just let me know the ID and password, and I just logged in, and that was it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
As far as pricing goes, I heard that they charge per user ID. If we have ten people with ten IDs right now, if we want to add another five more, they'll charge us for each ID, so that is something that is maybe a concern. I actually heard this from one of their competitors. I've heard Dynatrace say that New Relic's pricing model was very expensive, so that would be a concern.
I'm not sure of the exact price of each user ID.
What other advice do I have?
My organization is a customer of New Relic.
I'd rate the solution eight out of ten. If it had better, easier integrations, I'd rate it higher.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.