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Overcoming Challenges with Application Monitoring

Application monitoring should be an incredibly important part of a company's IT plan for web-based systems. However, this is sometimes not the case. Too often, companies work reactively instead of proactively due to perceived time, budget and resource restraints. In reality, however, when application monitoring is implemented properly, it can ultimately save resources by identifying issues before they are apparent to the company's audience at-large.

Proactive Application Monitoring

Once a company's website or online business system is live, IT professionals often need to quickly move on to the next project without much thought for the recently completed project. However, before a project should be considered "complete," the company's IT Department should implement an appropriate application monitoring system in order to keep the system running efficiently and securely as it ages.

Proper application monitoring can prevent unexpected downtime due to one of any number of technical issues that can occur with a company's website or e-commerce system. Proactive application monitoring will allow IT professionals to review and query data in a variety of different ways in order to ensure a company's system stays healthy and responsive, thus ensuring a positive end-user experience. If an issue does develop, the IT professionals charged with the system's care can take the necessary corrective action before the issue deteriorates further.

Planning for Application Monitoring

Discussion for application monitoring should start in the planning stage of any company's website or e-commerce site development. The discussion should include implementation and setup, ongoing data collection and periodic stress testing. A plan should also be developed requiring the regular review of the data collected through the application monitoring system. This data review is essential to ensuring all systems are working optimally. Some of the biggest points of application monitoring data review should include a system's direct interaction with the customer, such as searching a product database, shopping cart responsiveness and payment security.

Application Monitoring

Application monitoring should always be a critical part of any company's web presence, especially when it is engaged in direct customer interaction, such as through an e-commerce site.