Online Snags Easily Tracked, FixedOnline Snags Easily Tracked, Fixed

Even during a recession, December is the most critical time of the year for online retailers. 'Tis the season when a minute of downtime creates more losses than at any other time of the year, so installing software that monitors Web-site performance and helps catch problems before systems go down is critical.

This week, IT managers have another tool to help them do just that. Startup Tonic Software, founded by a group of executives who left IBM's Tivoli division in 1999, will unveil Tonic 2.0, which can measure and monitor performance, confirm the integrity of Web information, verify content, load-test the Web site, and help detect potential problems, the company says.

Tonic 2.0 lets administrators monitor transactions from the user's point of view. When it finds trouble, the software performs root-cause analysis to determine the problem's origin and launches automated corrective actions to fix it.

Version 2.0 includes features gleaned from customers using earlier versions and from meetings Tonic executives held with prospective customers, says Steve Marcie, Tonic's chief technology officer and co-founder. An IT department can now input custom rules that mimic specific steps administrators take when there's a system problem.

America West Airlines Inc. in Phoenix wants to keep a close eye on its online sales because it's a low-cost distribution channel, says Tom Trenga, director of Internet distribution at the airline. Tonic will help Trenga and his staff cut the time it takes to fix problems and boost uptime. "If we did this work manually, we couldn't catch all the problems," Trenga says. "Tonic will alert us before problems or slowdowns happen and do automatic fixes."

Web-site performance monitoring and testing tools such as Tonic are evolving, says industry analyst Tim Grieser at International Data Corp. These tools let businesses test an application as it's put into production, rather than performing cumbersome preproduction trials. More important, Tonic can spot trouble before it does any damage, Grieser says. "You don't want a user who's on the site making a purchase to be the first person to notice a problem."