Apache Apex allows for checkpointing operator state to ensure fault tolerance, but checkpointing to HDFS impacts performance. Checkpointing state to Apache Geode's in-memory data grid improves performance by utilizing Geode's faster write operations compared to HDFS. The document proposes integrating Apache Geode and Apex further by adding operators for inputting data from Geode into a DAG, outputting data to Geode with transactional support, caching data from Geode to maintain consistency, and executing parallel queries on Geode data. This would allow real-time streaming and analysis of data stored in Geode.