Someone asked us recently which companies specialised in web site performance monitoring and testing i.e. things like site uptime and availability, page download speeds, broken links, load testing, application testing, coding standards compliance etc.

Typically these are distinct from the 'web analytics' tools that are geared more towards marketing people rather than the IT / operations / infrastrcuture teams who usually look after web site performance and testing (though it clearly impacts the customer experience and has a direct correlation with vital business metrics like conversion rates...).

The companies that we're aware of who offer commercial web site performance monitoring and testing services in the UK are:

• Site Confidence - http://www.siteconfidence.co.uk
• Business2www (Site Morse) - http://www.business2www.com/
• Gomez - http://www.gomez.com
• Uptime100 - http://www.uptime100.co.uk  

And then there's also the likes of Mercury Interactive (http://www.mercuryinteractive.co.uk), Allied Testing (http://www.alliedtesting.com) and Tescom (http://www.tescom.co.uk) who offer more 'traditional' software and application testing services and products.

What others are there out there that we are currently missing?

Ashley

"Taking it a step further, you can even apologise when your site performs slowly and incentivise people to complete purchases abandoned as a result"

That's an interesting point. The highest converting e-mail we've ever sent out (in terms of open rate, response and subsequent subscriptions) was when our site was very slow, and eventually the server had to be restarted, due to a temporary application / memory problem, and we sent out an apology e-mail to all those who had been trying to use the site at the time. Obviously they had to be registered / logged in users so we knew who to e-mail and what their addresses were. But it certainly surprised and delighted them.

As customer service these days can be so slow and poor, and companies can appear to be treating you with a lack of transparency and honesty, I suspect there is quite a lot of mileage in looking at mistakes or errors as a positive opportunity to communicate with your customers. And the alerting / automation / personalisation possibilities of online / interactive are ideal for this (e.g. mobile text apology immediately on encountering an error?).

A while back I posted something on how Virgin Wines impressed me and turned me into a "customer advocate" through the way they handled a mistake on their part.

Ashley

On 15:59:35 9 June 2004 RedEyePaul wrote:

As Ashley says most of these tools are fairly technical in nature. That’s why we’ve (RedEye) partnered with Mercury Interactive to provide analysis of the impact that poor performance has on the customer.

Most marketers feel that site performance is something for the IT people to worry about when in fact the performance of your site is one the biggest drivers for loyalty. Analytics combined with performance data allow you to put a precise cost on poor performance and justify upgrading your site’s IT infrastructure.

Combining performance data with your activity data will give you a much more complete picture of what has actually happened. Taking it a step further, you can even apologise when your site performs slowly and incentivise people to complete purchases abandoned as a result.

On 16:05:28 7 June 2004 Ashley wrote:

Someone asked us recently which companies specialised in web site performance monitoring and testing i.e. things like site uptime and availability, page download speeds, broken links, load testing, application testing, coding standards compliance etc.

Typically these are distinct from the ’web analytics’ tools that are geared more towards marketing people rather than the IT / operations / infrastrcuture teams who usually look after web site performance and testing (though it clearly impacts the customer experience and has a direct correlation with vital business metrics like conversion rates...).

The companies that we’re aware of who offer commercial web site performance monitoring and testing services in the UK are:

• Site Confidence - http://www.siteconfidence.co.uk
• Business2www (Site Morse) - http://www.business2www.com/
• Gomez - http://www.gomez.com
• Uptime100 - http://www.uptime100.co.uk  

And then there’s also the likes of Mercury Interactive (http://www.mercuryinteractive.co.uk), Allied Testing (http://www.alliedtesting.com) and Tescom (http://www.tescom.co.uk) who offer more ’traditional’ software and application testing services and products.

What others are there out there that we are currently missing?

Ashley

Knowing after the event is fine but the important thing is to sort the problem fast to minimise the impact, so you need to alert whoever is responsible to fix it. And what if the site itself is fine but one of the backend systems has gone AWOL?

That’s why offer the ServersCheck products to add this type of Technical Performance Management data into the equation. Starts from just £140, allows you to check any number of aspects of your infrastructure performance against target (not just your site) and alerts whoever is responsible to get it sorted. If you are interested have a look at http://www.issel.co.uk/products_services/serverscheck/serverscheck.htm?id=ec

Colin Cooper
ISSEL
Aligning Execution with Strategy

On 19:15:07 1 September 2004 DeriJones wrote:
>On 16:05:28 7 June 2004 Ashley wrote:
>>Someone asked us recently which companies specialised
>in
>>web site performance monitoring and testing i.e.
>things
>>like site uptime and availability, page download
>speeds,
>>broken links, load testing, application testing,
>coding
>>standards compliance etc.
>
>Bit late to chip in, but...
>
>>- Site Confidence - http://www.siteconfidence.co.uk
>>- Business2www (Site Morse) -
>http://www.business2www.com/
>
>these chaps are getting some bad press on Google Groups
>right now on the
>accuracy of their test timings (and worse)
> http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=U-
>TF-8&threadm=5QNdk6U80INBFwQ1%40pigsonthewing.org.uk&a-
>mp;rnum=1
>
>>- Gomez - http://www.gomez.com
>>- Uptime100 - http://www.uptime100.co.uk
>
>simpler uptime-ish types.
>
>>And then there's also the likes of Mercury Interactive
>>(http://www.mercuryinteractive.co.uk), Allied Testing
>>(http://www.alliedtesting.com) and Tescom
>>(http://www.tescom.co.uk) who offer more 'traditional'
>>software and application testing services and
>products.
>
>Yup, they're definitely more software -testing space,
>IMHO.
>
>>What others are there out there that we are currently
>>missing?
>
>Err, us <blushing>
>SciVisum, www.scivisum.co.uk
>
>24/7 Monitoring is one of our 4 Web testing services (with
>Stress, Functionality, Accessibility)
> - we tend to test much deeper/wider with complex
>multi-step User Journeys
>rather than the simple 'home page' test types - and have a
>more fully
>featured analytical portal as a result.
>
>We're also slightly different from most in that we use our
>own Test Engine
>for all the services, and can thus use scripted User
>Journeys from a 24/7
>Test, in a later Stress Test for example, thus saving
>time, effort and cost.
>
>You also missed out axzona.co.uk - another UK simpler
>tester (Scottish
>based I believe)
>
>Deri
>SciVisum

SCL Analytics also have a web testing consultancy service as well as providing testing,monitoring and analytic software solutions.
http://www.sclanalytics.com/products/web-testing-and-web-monitoring