You can use showplan to determine whether an update is deferred or direct, but showplan does not give you detailed information about the type of deferred or direct update. Output from the sp_sysmon or Adaptive Server Monitor supplies detailed statistics about the types of updates performed during a sample interval.
Run sp_sysmon as you tune updates, and look for reduced numbers of deferred updates, reduced locking, and reduced I/O.
See “Transaction detail” on page 246 in the Performance and Tuning: Monitoring and Analyzing for Performance book for more information.
