An exemplary embodiment of the present invention provides a method for visualizing the performance of a system. The method includes generating a topological map of an application environment from a configuration management database (CMDB), wherein the topological map comprises a plurality of configuration items (CIs). A selection of configuration items (CIs) is made from the plurality of CIs. The definition of one or more performance graph(s) for the CIs is obtained from an operational database, wherein the performance graphs are configured to simultaneously show performance metrics for the CI and related CIs. Performance data for the CI and the related CIs are accessed and the performance graph is generated from the data.