Keynote Systems Announces On-Demand Service for Operational Monitoring of Web 2.0 Applications -- Transaction Perspective High Frequency

March 29, 2007; 03:00 AM
Keynote Systems (Nasdaq: KEYN), “Keynote,” the global leader in Internet and mobile test and measurement services, today announced the general availability of Transaction Perspective® High Frequency, the ideal solution and price point for operational monitoring of rich internet applications involving Java, Flash, AJAX, Web services, and other advanced Web technologies.

Transaction Perspective High Frequency has been designed expressly for Web operations, IT management and content developers who desire high frequency Web performance measurements while still using Keynote’s True Experience™ technology which utilizes Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser to accurately monitor rich Web 2.0-style Internet applications.

“We’re now able to provide four times the frequency of measurements of Keynote’s flagship Transaction Perspective 7.0 service for the same monthly subscription price, and all with only a slight loss of fidelity,” said Vik Chaudhary, vice president of product management and corporate development. “This release acknowledges what’s most important for today’s Web Operations staff –operational monitoring of Web 2.0 applications that requires being able to see what’s actually happening through a real browser.”

”Zillow.com is one of the top visited real estate sites in the country, providing real estate information and powerful tools to our users online,” said David Beitel, chief technology officer of Zillow.com. “With Keynote Transaction Perspective High Frequency, our operations group can monitor and track the experience our consumers across the country are having on Zillow.com and ensure that the quick, easy-to-use experience is maintained day and night.”

Steven Smith, CIO of AccuWeather.com said, “Keynote Transaction Perspective High Frequency provides us with invaluable data for ensuring our site is responsive and reliable for visitors 24/7. We have worked extremely hard the last few years to provide visitors to AccuWeather.com the most comprehensive understanding of weather occurring around the country in near real time. This has required us to add a great deal of rich interactivity to the site including clickable geographic and satellite maps of all kinds.” Smith continued, “The fact that Transaction Perspective High Frequency uses a real Internet Explorer browser to take its measurements is extremely important to us since that’s the only way you can capture a complete and accurate understanding for the experience of the majority of actual site visitors. And with the ability for us receive rich transaction measurements four times an hour, for the same price, the product is that much more attractive and useful to us — it’s the perfect solution for operational monitoring of rich Internet applications.”

“Transaction Perspective High Frequency takes the guessing out of how Rich Internet Applications are impacting Web site performance,” said Mr. Chaudhary. “Transaction Perspective High Frequency tests and measures complex Web applications that include interactive technologies like AJAX and Flash, which require a real IE browser to download accurately and execute code with the highest fidelity.”

Real World Uses of Transaction Perspective High Frequency By Web Operations Groups and Web Developers

Two examples of Transaction Perspective High Frequency in real world scenarios:

1. Transaction Perspective High Frequency can be used when a Web Operations or IT manager is preparing to launch a new AJAX or Flash-based Web application (for instance, AOL Mail or Google Maps) and needs to monitor the user experience of this complex and highly interactive application. The use of Web technologies such as AJAX requires the code to be executed by a real Web browser which asynchronously downloads content in the background. Operations departments would like to receive alerts and monitoring data frequently so they have a statistically significant sample to diagnose performance issues. Transaction Perspective High Frequency is the ideal solution in this case because it provides accurate performance monitoring data quickly along with effective alerts driven by adaptive thresholds for fast diagnosis of performance problems when they do occur.

2. Transaction Perspective High Frequency can be used when a Web or content developer is testing a Web application update that includes Java, Flash and third party content (ads, mash-ups, images delivered by content distribution networks, etc.) The Web developer wants to profile the performance of the new application relative to the old application, to ensure that the user experience has improved (or at least not degraded). Transaction Perspective High Frequency is the ideal solution in this example because the application development manager can profile the user experience on the old and the new application and show them side-by-side in the MyKeynote™ Web portal to understand the overall impact (good or bad) on user experience from over 240 metro areas around the world.

Keynote Transaction Perspective High Frequency is based on the Transaction Perspective family of Web Performance products, which includes the flagship Transaction Perspective 7.0, Transaction Perspective Last Mile and now Transaction Perspective High Frequency. All products in the Transaction Perspective suite offer advanced measurement, error reporting, alarming and diagnostic capabilities, along with the breadth of its geographic coverage from over 240 locations. Keynote True Experience™ technology embeds a real Internet Explorer browser for taking Web site performance measurements and thereby delivers an extremely high fidelity and accurate representation of how actual users are experiencing the performance of any Web site.

Web Content Diagnostics Option – Also Immediately Available

Also immediately available with all Transaction Perspective products is Keynote’s new Web Content Diagnostics option which offers advanced diagnostic capabilities and is designed to accelerate problem identification and speed time to resolution, while eliminating costly false-positives. With just a few mouse clicks, Operations teams can discover exactly what is causing an anomaly, and then move quickly to resolve any issues. Keynote’s new Web Content Diagnostics option includes the following features:

• Advanced Screen Snapshot -- Enables users to identify hard-to-detect logical errors on the page—such as missing buttons or other coding errors—by providing a screen snapshot of every page leading up to and including a content error, along with the HTTP response headers. The basic version of Screen Snapshot is included in Transaction Perspective High Frequency.
• Object Level Capture -- Helps Web Operations teams to pinpoint which objects (such as JPEG files or other objects such as JavaScript) on a Web page are causing performance slowdowns, by reporting response times for each object on the page.
• Object Level Trending -- Saves time and resources by reporting the performance over time of individual objects on a Web page to indicate whether an object-level slowdown is a one-time event or a persistent problem that requires attention.

Taken together, Keynote’s Web Content Diagnostics option represents a powerful set of tools that allows Operations teams to quickly and accurately identify logical issues underlying performance problems.

Pricing and Availability

Transaction Perspective High Frequency is available beginning at $250 per Web transaction page per month from 10 U.S. cities. Transaction Perspective High Frequency monitoring is currently available from 25 locations and will be extended to over 70 locations worldwide by June 2007. For more information about Transaction Perspective High Frequency please visit: http://www.keynote.com/products/web_performance/ or call a Keynote sales representative at 1-800-KEYNOTE (539-6683).

About Keynote

Keynote Systems (Nasdaq “KEYN”) is the global leader in test & measurement solutions that improve mobile communications and online business performance. As an independent and trusted third-party, Keynote provides IT and marketing executives with an unbiased view into their Internet services from around the world. For over a decade, we have been providing measurement data and testing capabilities that allow companies to understand and improve their customer’s online and mobile experience. Keynote has four test and measurement businesses: Web performance, mobile quality, streaming & VoIP, and customer experience/UX. In addition, our industry analysis group called Keynote Competitive Research publishes proprietary studies measuring customer experience and service levels across a wide range of industries.

Known as The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority™, Keynote has a market-leading infrastructure of 2,400 measurement computers and mobile devices in over 240 locations around the world. Keynote also maintains one of the most representative panels of online users consisting of 160,000 consumers. Our on-demand, hassle-free infrastructure allows businesses to access services they need, when they need them to pinpoint and fix mobile quality and Internet problems before they impact customers.

We help over 2,600 corporate customers become “the best of the best” by helping them improve online business performance and mobile communications quality. Our customers represent top Internet and mobile companies including American Express, BP, Caterpillar, Dell, Disney, eBay, ESPN Mobile, E*TRADE, Expedia, FedEx, Microsoft, SonyEricsson, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and Vodafone.

Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo, California and can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at (650) 403-2400.