AppSphere 15 - Preparing for System Failure: How Pearson used AppDynamics to Drive Improved Student Experience
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Pearson, a leading global learning company, utilizes AppDynamics to enhance student experiences through effective application monitoring and stability measures. The partnership focuses on preparing for system failures by implementing full-stack monitoring and standardized processes to ensure resilience in their diverse technology environment. Key takeaways emphasize the importance of continuous improvement, cross-functional collaboration, and proactive incident management to maintain operational reliability.
AppSphere 15 - Preparing for System Failure: How Pearson used AppDynamics to Drive Improved Student Experience
- 1. Preparing for System Failure: How Pearson used AppDynamics to Drive Improved Student Experience Mike Jackson, VP of Software Engineering, Pearson Tim Boberg, Sr. Manager of Application Engineering & DevOps, Pearson
- 2. Pearson is the world’s leading learning company 40,000 employees in over 70 countries All working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through all kinds of learning We provide learning materials, technologies, assessments and services to teachers and students in order to help people everywhere aim higher and fulfill their potential. We put the learner at the center of everything we do. Who is Pearson?
- 3. Who is Pearson? Pearson is the world’s leading learning company 40,000 employees in over 70 countries All working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through all kinds of learning We provide learning materials, technologies, assessments and services to teachers and students in order to help people everywhere aim higher and fulfill their potential. We put the learner at the center of everything we do.
- 4. The role of technology in education is expanding 87% of parents say effective implementation of technology is important for their child’s success Source: EdTechReview 2013 6.7m students are now taking at least one online course Source: Online Learning Consortium 2012 92% of educators rely on internet content in the classroom Source: Tomorrow Project – Speak up survey 2013
- 5. Helping people make progress in their lives through learning PEARSON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
- 6. 6 Digital Applications at Pearson
- 7. Multiple platforms with disparate technology stacks - Microsoft, Oracle, NoSQL - .Net, Java, Opensource Pearson Apps – XL Platform Only Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 7 1B+ Pageview s Over 2 months 1.3M Daily Logins 40K Concurren t users
- 8. 8 Example App - MathXL
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- 10. Preparing for system failure “Enterprise software must be cynical. Cynical software expects bad things to happen and is never surprised when they do.” Release It! Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software by Michael T Nygard Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved.10
- 11. 11 Failure to prepare is preparing to fail
- 12. Surviving a failure - Think before you fail Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved.12 “A resilient system keeps processing transactions, even when there are transient impulses, persistent stresses, or component failures disrupting normal processing” “A highly stable design usually costs the same to implement as the unstable one.” - Release It! Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software by Michael T Nygard
- 14. The Monitoring Story Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 14
- 15. The Monitoring Story Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 15
- 16. Why AppDynamics? - One ubiquitous tool that handles our disparate tech stacks - Scalable Architecture - We love all of the AppDynamics features: - System level monitoring and alerting - Business transaction monitoring and alerting - Call Stack visibility for slow or failing health checks - Visual representation of system 16 Even VP’s can use it !!
- 17. Partnership between Pearson and AppDynamics Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 17
- 18. Preparing for the Exceptional Fall 18 “AppDynamics turns our application into a living, breathing entity” Pearson Software Engineer
- 19. Preparing for the Exceptional Fall 19
- 20. Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 20 Exceptional Results with AppDynamics
- 21. Preparing for success!!! 21 ● Establish CoE ○ Engage AppD Professional Services ○ Ongoing Hands on Training ● Organize your applications ● Instrument key business transactions ● Eyes On The Glass – Watch Production ● Action what you see ○ If you see it, say it ● Continuous improvement ○ Keep current on controller and agent ○ Evaluate key systems and transactions
- 22. Next Steps with AppDynamics & our initiative Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 22
- 23. Takeaways • Success at scale requires standardization and preparation • Systems fail, Implement Stability Patterns • Adopt and Implement vibrant full stack Monitoring • Watch and Learn from Production • Avoid silos, work cross functionally • Train First Responders and DevOps Teams Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 23
- 24. Thank You
- 25. Agenda Pearson Overview Preparing for system failure Surviving a system failure The Exceptional Fall Results Takeaways Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 25
- 26. Preparing for system failure “It is a fantasy to expect every single bug to be driven out. Bugs will happen. They cannot be eliminated, so they must be survived instead.” - Release It! Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software by Michael T Nygard Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 26
- 27. Surviving a failure: Think before you fail Memory: You can never have enough Users consume resources Common logging tools create objects to represent a log event. These objects require memory. If no memory is available to create a log event, these logs do not get created This is a great argument for external monitoring in addition to log file scrapping 27
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- 29. - Over 1 billion pageviews since September 1 - Over 1.3m daily logins - Over 40k concurrent users during peak - For the XL Platform ALONE - Multiple platforms with disparate technology stacks - Microsoft, Oracle, NoSQL - .Net, Java, Opensource Pearson - few stats... Copyright © 2015 AppDynamics. All rights reserved. 29