Until very recently, tuning of IT application performance has been largely a guessing game. This is both surprising and unacceptable considering the relentless focus IT organizations place on cost-efficiency and productivity. The traditional approaches for database and application tuning that involve collecting large volumes of statistics and making trial and error changes are still in widespread use. They may have a more sophisticated face these days, but most tools continue to deliver the same ‘Server oriented’ statistics that are disconnected from concrete end user benefits. The landscape is changing, however, current thinking by leading consultants, DBAs and training organizations is focusing on performance tuning practices that are directly tied to end user service levels and improvements in operating efficiency.