An active model is constructed to represent an application network - applications, queues, processes, connections, machines, etc. The model maintains two dimensions of state, the intended state of the application network and the measured state of the application network. The states of both dimensions change in real-time. The intended state changes according to resource schedules or manual configuration changes; the measured state changes in response to the real-time behavior of the application network. The on-going differential between intended and measured states represents the "gap" to be managed. (The gap may be a result of failed operation or wrong intention.)