AVIcode, a leading provider of .NET application–monitoring solutions, is a force to be reckoned with in life cycle application management. To further the goals of the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI), Microsoft's vision of end-to-end systems management in which business and IT unite to create knowledge-based self-managing systems, AVIcode provides solutions to meet the needs of development, operations, and support teams.

            I spoke with Chris Childers, product manager at AVIcode, in late January, after the company released version 4 of Intercept Studio , its .NET-application monitoring solution for application and production environments. Our conversation centered around AVIcode's monitoring components in System Center Operations Manager 2007. AVIcode already provides .NET application monitoring for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 in its .NET Management Pack Enterprise Edition --a true extension of MOM that enables real-time monitoring within the MOM console. Chris told me that the key to effective monitoring is detecting problems and, rather than simply reporting about them, determining whether they can be fixed or need to be escalated. The .NET Management Pack deepens monitoring to a granular level by determining root causes, analyzing metrics related to operational trends, and investigating environmental variables. This deeper-level visibility requires integrated, "always-on" functionality, not a separate diagnostic tool. "Always-on" is an important advantage AVIcode's technology brings to .NET application monitoring, whether in production or development environments, and it helps bring DSI home by applying health modeling and reporting of performance trends from the time an application is in development throughout its operational life.