Ensuring a Quality Web Application Experience
The Web provides users
immediate, around-theclock
access to myriad
online services, increasingly
through the use of
interlocking Web apps.
But these technological
advances come with a
burden of sophisticated
technology — often
negatively impacting the
overall user experience.
Unfortunately, it is not
until a user complains
that an underlying
problem is discovered.
But where, exactly, did
that problem occur?
Many Web properties deliver a number of separate elements that constitute what a user sees as
a whole; cloud-delivered content, Software-as-a-Service content stitched into Web pages, rich
Internet applications, and third-party data and content from the origin site. To execute the whole
package, virtual infrastructures and cloud applications must work hand-in-hand with core inhouse
systems. Added to that, is support for a plethora of presentation schemes across different
browsers and hardware platforms such as mobile devices and networks of unknown quality. It
can, therefore, be extremely difficult to pinpoint a snag in the system.
To bridge the gap, an emerging management strategy — Web Application Performance Management
(WAPM) — is providing a single, consistent metric to judge the efficacy of Web technology
investments while answering the simple question: How well are we treating users?
WAPM provides a scorecard showing how effectively the Web presence is meeting organizational
goals and lets site operators know if the sophisticated technology is providing the benefits
envisioned.
• How well is our system serving the needs of our users?
• Are users experiencing performance bottlenecks and if so, where?
• Are these problems associated with specific parts of an application?
• Are application errors occurring on a single server or virtual server, or are they just for users
in specific geographic regions or for those using a specific kind of device?
When problems occur, WAPM data can ensure that the right people get the information
needed to quickly resolve problems. Instead of waiting for a customer complaint, WAPM enables
a proactive approach to attack the issues on a granular level and a timely fashion before users
are affected on a widespread basis.
When News America, Inc. (a division of News Corporation) was having a problem with their
Our News Web app, they turned to WAPM to resolve the issue.
“[WAPM] immediately determined that part of our application was taking too long to load,”
says Alan Olegario, System Performance Engineer at News Corporation. “We used [WAPM] to
drill down into the details of the issue. As a result, we were able to tell the application developers
the exact page and object causing the problem. Once they fixed the problem, lo and behold,
the site ran faster.”
Since then, WAPM has allowed News Corporation to make practical IT decisions based on
actual data on a consistent, regular basis. They can now see what is taking place in a user session
without the need to replicate the problem, hence reducing the time it takes to troubleshoot
a problem from days to just hours.
WAPM scales to fit the needs of any service delivery model. It can even effectively manage the performance
of traffic delivered in the cloud, for example, through the Akamai APS cloud. WAPM also presents
immediate visibility into the performance of new releases of features on the Web. Finally, it can
inform cost-benefit analysis.
Most important, WAPM measures how well the Web is meeting the needs of users and the institution,
and identifies where it makes sense to improve. A well-planned WAPM strategy significantly reduces
problem resolution time, and can remove many tiers of service escalation and eliminate the burden of
trying to recreate end-user problems. The entire organization can be instantly aware of Web performance
and receive constant confirmation of improvement. Consistent trending data of key performance indicators
may be communicated to executive management and to customers. With the end-user view as
the measure of success, online organizations can manage the complexity of Web delivery far more
cost-efficiently and effectively than ever before.
About the Author: Fred Dumoulin is Vice President, WAPM Programs for Coradiant, and introduced the TrueSight product line,
a WAPM service for businesses.


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