The definition of "application" depends on the perspective. Conversely, however, all of the separate component parts and all of the separate "applications" are interdependent. Thus, to optimize a WebSphere application it is not enough to simply tune the JVM or operating system, or modify the Java code. Instead, we need to develop a holistic view and examine the entire application stack to determine where the interdependencies lie. No single part should be tuned in isolation without an understanding of how it affects the rest of your system.

Similarly, when troubleshooting a WebSphere application, look at the whole application stack, because fixing a problem at one level simply fixes a part of the problem. Customers often blame a single piece of the stack for problems when the issue may lie somewhere else entirely.