AppDynamics & Breyer: Monitoring Performance, From Servers to Stable

San Francisco, CA – October 26, 2023 – AppDynamics, the observability leader and part of Cisco, today announced a surprising, yet insightful, application of its performance monitoring technology: tracking the ‘digital experience’ of Breyer painted horse collectors. While seemingly unrelated, the partnership highlights the core principle behind AppDynamics – understanding the entire customer journey, no matter how complex or unexpected. You probably know AppDynamics as the guys who help big companies keep their websites and apps running smoothly. We’re talking about making sure online shopping doesn’t crash during Black Friday, or that your bank app doesn’t freeze when you’re trying to pay bills. We do that by constantly watching how everything inside the tech works – servers, databases, code – and quickly spotting problems before your customers even notice them. Basically, we’re digital detectives. We’re located right here in San Francisco, at 500 Terry A Francois Blvd, and you can reach us at 714-966-4981 if you’re curious. But recently, we asked ourselves: what if “digital experience” wasn’t just about websites and apps? What if it extended to…collecting beautifully crafted, hand-painted horses? That’s where Breyer came in. Breyer Model Horses, a staple for collectors of all ages, are more than just toys. They’re art pieces, passion projects, and sometimes, serious investments. But getting your hands on the perfect Breyer horse isn’t always easy. It often involves navigating a complex ecosystem of online auctions, social media groups, limited releases, and retailer websites. And that’s where things can get…frustrating. “We started noticing a pattern,” explains Sarah Miller, a long-time Breyer collector and the driving force behind this unusual partnership. “Collectors were complaining about slow website load times when new releases dropped, auction sites crashing under the pressure of bids, and difficulties finding the information they needed to make informed decisions.” Sound familiar? That’s exactly the kind of stuff AppDynamics solves for businesses every day. So, we teamed up with Breyer and a dedicated group of collectors to build a custom “observability dashboard” – not for servers and code, but for the entire Breyer collecting experience. How does it work? It’s actually pretty clever. We’re tracking “key performance indicators” (KPIs) for the collector journey. Think of it like this: “Time to Stable”: How long does it take a collector to find and acquire a desired horse, from the initial announcement to having it delivered? We’re measuring everything from the speed of social media notifications to the processing time of online orders. “Auction Success Rate”: What percentage of bidders successfully win the horses they’re after? We’re monitoring auction site performance, identifying bottlenecks, and helping improve the bidding process. “Social Sentiment Score”: Are collectors happy with the new releases and the overall experience? We’re analyzing social media conversations to gauge sentiment and identify areas for improvement. “Information Accessibility”: How easy is it for collectors to find information about upcoming releases, horse specifications, and artist details? We're tracking website navigation patterns and search query performance. We're not looking at code. We’re looking at the result of all the different elements – websites, social media, auctions, shipping – that come together to create the collector's experience. What have we learned so far? The initial results have been…eye-opening. We’ve discovered that: Limited releases cause major digital bottlenecks: When a highly sought-after horse is announced, website traffic spikes dramatically, often causing sites to crash. This isn’t just annoying; it leads to lost sales and frustrated collectors. Social media is a critical touchpoint: Collectors rely heavily on social media groups and forums for information and updates. Slow loading times or difficult navigation on these platforms can significantly impact the collector experience. Shipping delays are a major pain point: While not directly related to the digital experience, shipping delays are consistently cited as a major source of frustration by collectors. The Bigger Picture: Observability for Everything While this partnership with Breyer might seem like a fun side project, it actually illustrates a fundamental shift in how we think about performance monitoring. AppDynamics isn’t just about keeping websites and apps running; it’s about understanding the entire customer journey, no matter how complex or unusual. “We’re moving beyond traditional application performance monitoring to a world of full-stack observability,” says David Anderson, Chief Technology Officer at AppDynamics. “That means understanding how every component of your business – from the front-end user experience to the back-end infrastructure – impacts your customers. And that applies to any business, even one that sells beautiful painted horses.” This means that any organization, whether they’re an e-commerce giant or a model horse maker, can use AppDynamics to: Proactively identify and resolve performance issues. Improve the customer experience. Drive business growth. So, the next time you’re browsing online for a Breyer horse, remember that AppDynamics might be working behind the scenes to ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience. We’re not just monitoring servers; we’re helping collectors connect with their passion. And that’s something we’re really proud of. You can learn more about us and our solutions at [insert AppDynamics website here].