• "the database was always slow - it was always slow" - I keep hearing that metric with regards to one of my applications/databases.

    That is why I started reading the free ebook (provided by SQLServercentral BTW) "Trouble Shooting SQL Server A guide for the accidental DBA" by Jonathan Kehayias and Ted Krueger. Excellent book, over 300 pages, after reading and testing the first 40 pages I already developed some sort of strategy. I don't have any metrics at all, because the application is well desinged in my humble opinion and I don't think there is anything wrong with it apart from one user who was ganted to useing it as a bit of a DW that we don't have. That user's SQL's are the 10 top SQL's from the script that is in that book. Some people blame the network, but in order to prove or disprove that theory I need a baseline and have a strategy and that takes time.

    From what I read so far there doesn't seem to be one metric.