In an organization that is highly charged, job security might be contingent on proving specific users are receiving premium application and network performance. This is the job for a passive agent. On the other hand, for an organization that is geographically dispersed with centralized support for remote offices, being able to identify which segment of the network is facing performance issues would provide significant savings in time and unnecessary travel. The bottom line is identifying which types of measurements are best for a specific network environment. Active agents provide consistent, repeatable techniques that offer the clearest, most reliable metric of network performance.
Passive agents offer the best information on individual user experiences.
Martha Young is principal of Cutting Edge Information Group, a Golden, CO-based consultancy.