A system and method for managing application performance includes a storage controller including a memory containing machine readable medium comprising machine executable code having stored thereon instructions for performing a method of managing application performance and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to execute the machine executable code to receive storage requests from a plurality of first applications via a network interface, manage QoS settings for the storage controller and the first applications, and in response to receiving an accelerate command associated with a second application from the first applications, increase a first share of a storage resource allocated to the second application, decrease unlocked second shares of the storage resource of the first applications, and lock the first share. The storage resource is a request queue or a first cache. In some embodiments, the second application is a throughput application or a latency application.