January 8, 2001

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Software Manages Web-Based E-Business Apps

Dirig offering monitors component-based applications and helps fix failures faster

By Rick Whiting

More on application management:

Sprint Invests Billions In E-Business Packages (11/27/00) Costly Management (11/6/00)

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hen it comes to managing E-commerce applications that run on the Web, IT managers who use the current generation of application-management tools often find themselves flying blind. Dirig Software Inc. this week will debut application-management software that's designed to help IT managers more closely monitor component-based applications and correct failures more quickly.

Most of today's Web applications are based on component architectures, in which particular software components perform specific tasks, such as verifying credit-card transactions. Keeping those applications running is critical for companies that do business online, but today's application-management tools aren't effective with component-based applications because they can't monitor how the components interact with each other. For example, while an application-management system might alert an IT manager that a transaction has failed, it generally can't pinpoint what particular component failed or why. "You need to get a lot clearer root-cause analysis," says Meta Group analyst Corey Ferengul.

Dirig's software, which has yet to be named, is capable of managing E-business transactions from a front-end Web server, through an application server and the applications running on it, to a back-end database. The tools can measure application performance, such as how often a software component is invoked or fails, and pinpoint the source of trouble. For example, according to the vendor, the product not only will warn IT managers when customers are dropping off a Web site because of slow response times, but it will also diagnose the source of the problem, such as bottlenecks in the application-database connections.

Xand Corp., which develops and hosts E-commerce and enterprise applications, uses other system and application-management tools from Dirig and will likely adopt the new software. "The new stuff goes more toward knowing what's going on inside some of these complex applications," says Joseph Fuccillo, Xand's senior VP of business development. He hopes that will help the Hawthorne, N.Y., company offer its customers improved levels of service.

The new product will be available early in the second quarter and will support Java applications developed for a range of application servers. Pricing hasn't been set.

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