Just 6% of organisations have comprehensive and specific
information about the actual end-user experience for each
individual logging onto their websites, according to research
commissioned by software and services company
Compuware.
Of the 200 IT directors surveyed, 50% said monitoring the load on
the web server to ensure that peaks in demand did not bring the
site down best described their approach to managing and monitoring
website performance.
Compuware says that such an approach does not enable
organisations to measure and evaluate real end-user experience in
real time and provide analysis alluding to the probable cause of
poor performance.
Independent research company Vanson Bourne conducted the survey
across the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands, speaking to 200
CIOs in retail and financial companies. In addition, 400 consumers
were polled by Spark Communications.
A fifth of organisations said measuring end-user experience by
using dedicated PCs in different locations, which simulate
transactions to provide an insight into user experience, best
described their approach to managing and monitoring the performance
of their transactional websites. However, this method is synthetic,
says Compuware, and can be deceiving as it presents an artificial
representation of the user experience.
Compuware estimates that poorly performing transactional websites
are costing a third of retailers and companies in the financial
sector across Europe approximately £500,000 per year. An additional
21% estimated that poor website performance was costing them around
£1.5m, with a further 23% estimating the cost to be in the region
of £2m.
“Transactional sites have become an essential element of any
organisation’s business, much like shop fronts, and it is important
that they manage the experience that each user has of the site,
said Michael Allen, EMEA sales director, performance management,
Compuware.