Mercury Enhances Web-Performance ToolMercury Enhances Web-Performance Tool
Topaz with the Auto RCA module is a statistical-analysis engine that can immediately alert IT workers to a problem with a server processor, server I/O, or a database.
When a Web site crashes or slows down, it can take hours to fix it. Mercury Interactive Corp. believes it has the answer for reducing that time-consuming process with its enhanced Web-performance tool, which can help IT workers zero in on the most likely cause of system problems.
Mercury's Topaz with the Auto RCA (root-cause analysis) module is a statistical-analysis engine that has built-in rules for a system and Web-site performance. It can immediately alert IT administrators to a problem with a server processor, server input/output, or a database.
Other performance and RCA tools that have been around for a while require the administrators to write the rules, Hurwitz Group analyst Jasmine Noel says. "When customers first see the app tanking, that's when they need RCA," she says. Without RCA, it can take a lot of time to search the app code, database, server, network, and firewall before locating the problem. "Topaz with RCA could easily turn a half-hour job into five minutes," Noel says.
Tim Talbot, senior VP of IT at PHH Arval, the vehicle-leasing and fleet-management subsidiary of holding company Cendant Corp., uses RCA in his lab. "Ultimately, we expect it help make sure the site isn't down, our clients are more satisfied, and revenue would increase," he says. That's key because the Hunt Valley, Md., company takes in around $2 billion in gross revenue annually, and 30% to 40% of that comes from its expanding Internet business.
The RCA module will create a baseline, a term Talbot uses to describe the testing phase, and collect performance data from all aspects of the architecture. The statistical engine applies those baselines when identifying abnormal data points. It then extracts the most likely source of a problem when it occurs and filters out the irrelevant data.
Topaz with Auto RCA is available now and is priced at $15,000.
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