The top 5 reasons you need synthetic monitoring

Transcription

1 The top 5 reasons you need synthetic monitoring Why you need synthetic monitoring when you have real data on real users

2 Table of contents Introduction 3 Reason 1. To monitor application performance, even during low-traffic periods 4 Reason 2. To objectively measure SLAs 5 Reason 3. To track the performance impact of 3rd parties 6 Reason 4. To baseline and analyze performance trends across geographies, browsers, and devices 7 Reason 5. To gain end-to-end visibility into end-user experience 8 Your homework 9 2

3 Introduction There are two approaches to measuring end-user experience, and you need both Whether you re managing custom-built or packaged applications that are web-based or inside your enterprise you need to know where performance problems reside whether they are on the server, network, or client. You must have a complete end-to-end view of your application from your data center to the end user s experience to proactively detect performance issues, quantify their business impact, and accelerate resolution. There are two complementary approaches to measuring end-user experience, and you need both to deliver the application performance required by today s hyper-connected end-users. > > Real-user monitoring collects data on real users actual experiences and behaviors as they interact with your websites and applications. > > Synthetic monitoring uses geographically dispersed agents to collect performance data from scheduled tests that simulate the way users interact with your websites and applications. You may wonder, Why synthetic when I have real data on real users? Here are the top five reasons: 1) To monitor application performance even during low-traffic periods 2) To objectively measure SLAs 3) To track the performance impact of 3rd parties 4) To baseline and analyze performance trends across geographies, browsers, and devices 5) To gain end-to-end visibility into end-user experience Read on to learn more about using both synthetic and real-user monitoring as complementary tools in a mature application monitoring strategy. Real user monitoring: Vendors, customers, employees Synthetic monitoring: Simulated users on workstations/agents 3

4 1. To monitor application performance, even during low-traffic periods Measuring performance 24/7 Today s digital applications execute on the edge of the Internet, across an array of devices, service provider backbones, content delivery networks, 3rd parties, and more. Performance problems can occur anywhere along the application delivery chain, from the edge of the Internet to your data center. You need a holistic view into your applications and infrastructure to determine where the bottlenecks are. With synthetic monitoring, you can measure application performance 24/7 from every vantage point and be alerted to issues before customers are affected. Synthetic monitoring is also a good option for business critical transactions that have low real-user traffic. If an issue arises during off-hours or other low-traffic periods, synthetic monitoring can help you quickly identify, isolate, and resolve the problem and limit the impact on the business. Proactively identify problems and expedite resolution with synthetic monitoring before real users are impacted. 4

5 2. To objectively measure SLAs Closely managing SLAs makes all the difference You are probably relying on 3rd parties to host all or parts of your applications. Closely managing your SLAs with them can make the difference between a good customer experience and one that is plagued with problems. With synthetic monitoring, you can ensure quality service delivery, accelerate problem identification, protect customer experience, and report on the compliance of internal or external providers. Synthetic monitoring provides objective, stable, and predictable performance measurements that align IT, business stakeholders, and 3rd parties. And, you can use it to validate performance before you engage with a new 3rd party to ensure consistent delivery throughout the lifetime of the relationship. Manage internal and external SLA s with automated reports. 5

6 3. To track the performance impact of 3rd parties From the end-user s viewpoint, you re the one who s accountable To provide rich customer experiences, websites and applications increasingly depend on 3rd parties such as shopping carts, ads, customer reviews, web analytics, social networking, SEO, video, and more. In fact, retailers around the globe increased the number of 3rd parties by 21% in 2015, from an average of 25 to 30 3rd parties. 1 These 3rd parties help drive traffic, increase conversions, and improve customer satisfaction, but any one component could weaken your site s overall performance or even take it down. While SLAs may let you point the finger, from the end-user point of view, you re the one who s accountable. Using synthetic monitoring, you can evaluate components via pre-production testing for proof of concept and load testing based upon what you expect during high-traffic periods. Identify the 3rd party outages that affect your synthetic tests. 1. Dynatrace Benchmark data, September 2014 September

7 4. To baseline and analyze performance trends across geographies, browsers, and devices How to know if your application performance is meeting expectations If you don t track and baseline your performance during normal operations, you won t know how your applications are performing for your end-users during peak periods. Synthetic monitoring provides a stable and consistent environment to measure performance at all hours of the day, over a period of weeks or months. With synthetic monitoring, baseline tests can mirror the way your end users access your applications. These simulated user tests can monitor key transactions across geographies, browsers, and devices. Armed with this data, you can assess whether you are meeting user requirements, identify areas to improve, and use the data for capacity planning. If you use established synthetic monitoring baseline metrics before entering an SLA, you will have concrete data to support negotiations and to monitor going forward. Analyze and baseline performance trends with real-time alerts and object-level detail including DNS, connections, SSL, first byte, and response time by page object or 3rd party host. 7

8 5. To gain end-to-end visibility into end-user experience Mature application management combines synthetic and real-user monitoring Given the complexity of managing today s application performance, getting end-to-end insight into your end-users experience requires an integrated approach. Organizations with mature application management capabilities combine synthetic with real-user monitoring on a common platform, in a single view, to have broad user experience visibility and deep-dive diagnostic capabilities. Synthetic monitoring complements real-user monitoring by providing you with the capability to proactively monitor, troubleshoot, and baseline the performance of all your applications. Real-user monitoring is ideal for evaluating and understanding the performance experienced by real users, and synthetic monitoring is critical for identifying performance issues and resolving problems before real users are affected. To really understand your website s performance and whether all users are receiving an optimized experience, you need both real-user and synthetic monitoring to provide detailed metrics from the data center through to the front-end components of your web or mobile site. A single, integrated dashboard view of real-user and synthetic monitoring metrics provides a complete picture of your end-users experience. 8

9 Your homework We hope that this short ebook has given you some insight on the benefits of real-user and synthetic monitoring as tools to help you meet the demands of today s hyper-connected end-users. Below are some additional resources to help you build a mature and best of class application monitoring strategy. Mobile and website performance test Are you delivering exceptional user experiences? Take a free performance test today to find out. This website evaluation and report will help you to: > > Understand how your website is performing for mobile and web users > > Analyze the performance impact of your website design > > Know how your mobile and website speed compares to the best in your industry Click here for your FREE MOBILE & WEBSITE PERFORMANCE TEST Video and webinar replays > > The performance people take on: capturing user visits The blogroll > > Creating evolved applications for evolving customer experiences > > Comparing user experiences: web, app & mobile > > Omni-channel monitoring in real life > > The essential omni-channel user experience measurement index Recommended reading > > Nordstrom: creating a singular experience, online and in-store > > What it takes to create the ultimate online shopping experience > > Comerica deploys tech to quickly fix mobile-app glitches > > Luckyvitamin.com can now see precisely what new site could handle before live > > Effective measuring we now test 24 x 7 from multiple locations > > Maximize conversions on your next big online event > > How to modernize your ecommerce analytics and improve customer experience 9

10 Learn more at dynatrace.com Dynatrace is the innovator behind the industry s premier Digital Performance Platform, making real-time information about digital performance visible and actionable for everyone across business and IT. We help customers of all sizes see their applications and digital channels through the lens of their end users. More than 7,500 organizations use these insights to master complexity, gain operational agility and grow revenue by delivering amazing customer experiences ###_PIECE_initials 509_SS_5ReasonsWhySynth-RUM_jg