Compuware has launched a range of solutions to allow even the smallest companies to keep their Web sites working at optimum levels.
Compuware`s new PointForward solutions offer a complete testing and monitoring solution set - from functional and scalability testing to site integrity and ongoing performance monitoring.
[VIDEO]PointForward aims to use the Internet to allow small and medium-sized enterprises access to the monitoring infrastructure and skills previously only available to corporate giants.
This new delivery model is the next natural extension of Compuware`s application lifecycle leadership - fuelled in part by the ubiquitous nature of the Internet and time-to-market pressures that Compuware customers face.
David Taylor, Compuware VP of product sales for Latin America, Middle East and Africa, points out that it is difficult to determine the amount of potential income lost to a company through Web site problems.
"But," he says, "the recent Hurwitz Group study showed that unless a company maintains all applications on its Web site, it will lose revenue both in the short- and long-term, and is at greater risk of closing down completely. After a major Web site disaster, up to 43% of businesses never reopen, while another 29% close within two years."
US research group Forrester surveyed several large e-commerce sites in January 1999 and found that if Cisco.com, which generated $20 million of revenue a day, went down for one hour, it would lose $182 640 in revenue. Research group Jupiter surveyed 2 400 end-users after they encountered Web site failures while conducting e-commerce transactions. A loyal 50% of customers did not leave the site but 10% left and never returned, 13% did not return after completing their transaction, and 24% returned after first going to a competitor`s site.
Taylor, equating these statistics with a real-world experience, says: "It would be equivalent to 10% of customers in a grocery store, after having filled up their shopping trolleys and encountering a problem, just walking out and never returning.
"There is no fail-safe or full-proof method of preventing downtime, as can be seen from various hacker attacks in recent months. However, the use of Automated Load Testing Tools can assist in identifying the possibilities of downtime in advance.
[VIDEO]"Through PointForward, we can ensure our client`s Web sites - for many the most important customer-facing asset - operate and are supported at peak performance," says Taylor.
Compuware`s PointForward includes four distinct product offerings that give clients access to Compuware`s centralised skills to help them manage their Web sites. PointForward offers regularly scheduled, comprehensive remote tests of the reliability, integrity, scalability and performance of Web-based applications.
[VIDEO]PointForward reports allow companies to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a Web site, highlight problems and solutions, and understand how customers experience the site. The four offerings - reliability testing, integrity testing, scalability testing and performance monitoring - are available individually or as a complete package, on a per-project or subscription basis.
This is how the four offerings work:
Reliability testing ensures that an application performs as expected. For example, if a customer orders three blue sweaters costing R80 (VAT included) each, then the result in the customer`s final "shopping trolley" should equal R240, with the three blue (not red) sweaters being sent to the correct shipping address. This form of testing also checks to see that all site applications work, that active buttons are truly active, and that text messages are correct.
Integrity testing saves companies time so that they don`t have to manually check the site. With PointForward, there are more than 50 integrity checks testing for broken links, "deep" pages, slow pages, stale data and orphaned files.
Scalability testing is PointForward`s remote load testing that detects problems by simulating many users "hitting" the site from several points around the world. This function highlights several important items, including response times, the site`s health and infrastructure issues, and other issues arising when a system is under heavy load, providing rich detailed reports on the health and stability of the site`s Web servers, databases and networks under "load".
Performance monitoring helps companies understand the customer`s (or end-user`s) experience by measuring the site at various connection speeds (modem, DSL, T1 and others), gauging response times across multiple Internet backbones from several points worldwide. This solution pinpoints where problems exist, allowing customers to quickly determine corrective action.
Share
