Performance optimization is critical for ensuring the efficiency and efficacy of applications, whether they are deployed on the cloud, using bare metal, or with Kubernetes, as highlighted by Michael Levan. At the heart of performance optimization are three key questions regarding the expected performance, knowledge of how applications are performing, and data to understand this performance, all of which are addressed in this insightful blog post. Platform 9 offers tools like Proactive Ops and Elastic Machine Pool (EMP) to aid in these efforts, providing a robust management plane and smart scaling solutions to maintain optimal resource utilization and reduce costs.