1. A machine implemented method for reporting data, comprising: receiving application data for an initial period of time, the application data is received at a processing module on a first server from performance monitoring code inserted into an application that executes on a second server, the application data pertains to performance of the application; selecting a type of probability distribution, from among a plurality of types of probability distributions, that characterizes the received application data, the selected type of probability distribution has one or more parameters, the selection made by the processing module at the first server; transferring information from the first server to the performance monitoring code on the second server that identifies the one or more parameters; accessing subsequent application data that pertains to performance of the application after the initial period of time by the performance monitoring code; determining values for the one or more parameters for the subsequent application data by the performance monitoring code; and providing the determined values to the processing module at the first server.