Prognosis

2006 Consensus Software Awards

Product Description

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications is an enterprise-class software solution that delivers significant value to organisations by giving them insight into the quality of user experience with their Web-based applications (such as internet banking, travel booking, or other online shopping services).

PROGNOSIS records and then replays Microsoft Internet Explorer Web-browser sessions to emulate real user activity, and to measure the service levels provided by Web applications both in real time and historically.

Creating, editing and replaying Web user sessions is easy. The sessions can be made simple or complex - including any functions and steps that a real Web user would go through, for example filling out forms, pressing submit buttons, logging in to secure sites, and performing searches.

Every keystroke, mouse click or hyperlink used to navigate around a site is captured. Each step in a replayed user session is measured and tracked to determine how long it takes, and to validate that the step is completing correctly.

By recording and emulating user sessions, organisations can validate that their Web applications are meeting customer expectations, allowing them to check their account, place orders online, perform complex searches, update their details and so on.

Multiple recorded sessions can be replayed - by the second, the minute, or the hour. Sessions can also be replayed from a single site, or from geographically distributed sites to ensure the Web application is meeting customer’s needs – no matter where they are, or what type of Internet connection they have.

Instant email, pager and dashboard alerts inform the organisation if their web site goes down, or if service levels are breached.

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications is completely integrated with the broader PROGNOSIS suite of server-side performance management products so companies can easily investigate and resolve problems when they occur.

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications is essential for any business that provides Web-based services to its customers.

Innovation

There are two key areas where PROGNOSIS for Web Applications innovates:

1. A more ‘human’ technological approach

Traditional Web application monitoring tools run complex, scripted tests programmatically. This means the testing tool connects directly to the Web application to perform various tests. These after-the-fact batch tests do not truly function in the same way that a real Web user would.

PROGNOSIS provides a 100% accurate user-centric test by recording a user’s Web session and replaying that session through Microsoft Internet Explorer. This means PROGNOSIS tests the interaction between the Web application and all it’s sub-components (JavaScript, image downloads, form building, etc.) with a real Web browser. It also delivers the results in real time, so if there is a problem, it can be addressed immediately – before customers and revenues are impacted.

2. Addressing an evolving business need

Traditional Web monitoring tools are designed for Web developers to test load and functionality, to ensure their Web applications have been built correctly, and to pinpoint issues before the application goes live. These tools use complex scripting languages and tend to run through batches of individual functional scenarios in a test environment.

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications on the other hand, is designed to test live Web applications from a user perspective on a continual basis. PROGNOSIS measures, monitors, manages and ultimately improves customer service levels. It is easy to install, use and modify even by non-technical staff, delivering rapid time to value for IT departments, marketing teams and business managers alike.

PROGNOSIS is intended to run multiple user session emulations, from multiple sites on a continual basis. It provides real-time and historical results, so key stakeholders can ensure their Web applications are delivering business value to their customers.

Performance

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications uses Microsoft Internet Explorer to emulate a user browsing the Internet. There is minimal CPU and memory usage and much of the time during its testing procedure is spent waiting for a response.

Customers generally install PROGNOSIS on a standard Microsoft dedicated Windows-based server to ensure no external factors influence response time measurements.

PROGNOSIS incorporates highly efficient data storage for its historical tracking. For example, two year’s worth of service level reporting data for a typical installation occupies less than one gigabyte of hard disk storage space.

PROGNOSIS is built on peer-to-peer data collection and distribution architecture. This means it can be installed in multiple locations (remote end points), which ‘filter at source’ and only send those metrics that are required by remote users. This approach minimises bandwidth utilisation and overhead requirements. It also ensures fault tolerance, as the end points store metrics locally and forward only when there is a definite connection to the remote user.

PROGNOSIS is ready to use out of the box. It comes with sample scripts, reports, alerts and service levels that can be easily installed and used by personnel with relatively low technical expertise – delivering immediate time to value for multiple stakeholders within an organisation.

Potential

The potential market for this product is difficult to quantify. However, as PROGNOSIS provides value to any organisation that relies on the Internet to deliver business-critical services to its customers, the potential market is large - and will continue to grow for many years to come as organisations move applications and business processes to a Web-based platform.

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications was launched globally in September 2005 to the existing PROGNOSIS customer base.

The initial email campaign inviting customers to view a demonstration of PROGNOSIS for Web Applications had an impressive response rate (around 15%). The response was similar across all vertical markets, reaffirming this product’s breadth of appeal.

The company’s key challenge now is to gear its sales force to address the rapidly growing volume of interest in this product. In fact, the product has generated so much interest that Integrated Research has deferred its plans to promote this product to the broader market until mid 2006.

It is expected that revenue from this product will follow the company’s current geographical revenue breakdown, with around 97 per cent coming from international clients (primarily in North America) and three per cent from the local Australian market. 

Early purchasers of PROGNOSIS for Web Applications include:

Bank Verlag (Germany): This company provides publishing and IT services (including electronic banking facilities) for Germany’s 300 private banks. PROGNOSIS is initially being used to monitor uptime, to measure service levels, and to validate usage scenarios when Bank Verlag modifies existing online banking sites.

Old Mutual Insurance (South Africa): The largest financial services company in South Africa, Old Mutual provides a Web-based insurance backbone that supports 260 brokers. The company is using PROGNOSIS for Web Applications, running more than 200 different user emulations, to monitor its Web application service levels.

IDX Healthcare (United States): Long time business partner and technology provider, IDX markets clinical and administrative software solutions to the global healthcare market. They have recently purchased PROGNOSIS for Web Applications and intend to resell the product to their customer base.

Other information the judges should know

In addition to its Sydney headquarters, Integrated Research has company-owned offices in the US (Denver and Herndon), UK (London), Germany (Frankfurt) and a worldwide network of resellers and distributors.

The company exports its PROGNOSIS performance monitoring solutions to over 50 countries - from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

About PROGNOSIS

PROGNOSIS for Web Applications is a member of the broader PROGNOSIS family of performance monitoring products - used by many of the world’s largest companies to monitor the performance and availability of their business-critical computer systems.

PROGNOSIS products deliver real-time monitoring and alerting, deep drill-down diagnostics, and trend-based historical reporting for Voice over IP and IP telephony networks, IT server infrastructure (HP NonStop, Windows, UNIX, Linux), ATM/POS networks in the banking industry, and now for business-related Web applications.

PROGNOSIS Clients

PROGNOSIS customers include:

• 4 of the world’s 20 largest organisations

• 15 of the world’s 50 largest organisations

• 23 of the world’s 100 largest organisations

• 35 per cent of the world’s 1000 largest companies

About Integrated Research

Integrated Research, the developer of PROGNOSIS, is a publicly listed (ASX:IRI) Australian company, with a 17-year heritage of managing complex computing infrastructure for business-critical environments.

The world’s largest bank, telecommunications company, stock exchange, computer hardware manufacturer and ISP all rely on Integrated Research’s PROGNOSIS software - as do customers in more than 50 countries.

Integrated Research has sales and support offices in the USA, Europe and Australia and a worldwide distribution network.

Attachment: Seven scenarios for success (pdf)

These "Seven scenarios for success" are based on actual Web applications that provide real-world business solutions. This paper discusses Web applications that transact, validate, and distribute information and everything in between.

Each scenario illustrates how PROGNOSIS for Web applications meets specific requirements and provides solutions that you can apply to your own circumstances. You’ll discover why total control of your web applications is not only practical, but also crucial to both your reputation and bottom line.

Content Copyright©Integrated Research
Format Copyright©Consensus Pty Ltd

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