Gomez Doubles Network

Performance Load Testing and Monitoring Network Now 80,000 Desktop Computers Worldwide

Lexington, Massachusetts, March 9, 2009 Gomez, Inc., a leading provider of web application experience management services, has doubled the number of Last Mile measurement points on its ExperienceFirst network to 80,000 end-user desktop computers in 162 countries, connected to the web over dial-up, DSL, cable, low and high broadband via more than 2500 Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The Gomez ExperienceFirst network is the industry's largest and only global network that tests and monitors the performance of web applications from the "outside-in" using four critical perspectives: from end-user desktop computers, from Internet backbone nodes, within actual users' web browsers and via a virtual test bed of 500+ combinations of browser and operating systems.

Testing at the Last Mile exposes how variables like location, consumer-grade ISPs, content delivery networks, connection speeds, and computer types all impact the end-user's web performance. With over 80,000 measurement points, Gomez's Last Mile network is the industry's broadest and largest end-user website testing and monitoring network, helping businesses identify the root causes of localized performance issues such as slow-loading pages, missing content and transaction errors, which could jeopardize their revenues, brand reputation and customer satisfaction.

For businesses needing to validate whether new web applications or features will scale under load prior to launch, the Gomez Last Mile network creates a "real-world" load that accurately represents their target audience profile, via a global mix of demographic locations, ISPs and connection speeds. This provides the most realistic web performance load test, identifying a wide variety of issues that can be corrected prior to launch, and ensuring application and infrastructure changes can be rolled out with confidence.

Testing from Last Mile and Backbone Networks Provides Most Thorough View of Performance

As a best practice, web performance testing and monitoring is most powerful when conducted using both Gomez's Last Mile network and its global network of 150 Internet backbone nodes. Backbone nodes provide a highly-controlled "lab-like" environment with data center-grade servers and data center-grade network connections from which to test, measure and baseline web performance. Best used for operational and availability monitoring, it can detect even a slight deviation in system health. Combined, backbone and Last Mile testing provide the most complete understanding of how web applications perform, both operationally and for end-users, helping business to prioritize troubleshooting, speed time-to-resolution, and consistently deliver quality web experiences to customers.

"Web performance monitoring is as much an art as a science. Having the right mix of end-users and backbone test stations, as well as browsers and operating systems has become a balancing act in a time of increasing globalization and platform differentiation. Providers of Internet applications are looking for a sophisticated approach to application performance and user experience issues — a few nodes on a single backbone provider just won't cut it in today's complex environment," said Daniel Golding, VP and Research Director at Tier1 Research.

Gomez recently conducted a one-week test of the web performance of the home pages of nine global airlines1 to highlight the value of combined testing from the Last Mile and from Internet backbone nodes. The test revealed that the average page load time when measured from backbone nodes was 2.52 seconds. When measured from end-users' desktops on high-broadband connections via the Last Mile network, the average load time was almost five times slower. Without the Last Mile viewpoint, these airlines would be unaware of the web performance that their end-users are experiencing. The combined data provides insight into both "best case" backbone web performance and "real-world" Last Mile performance, enabling organizations to optimize web performance for their most important web pages and transactions.

"To succeed on the web today, you have to measure website performance from as close to your customers as possible," said Matt Poepsel, Gomez's VP of performance strategies. "With the Gomez Last Mile, you get more insight about the web experience you are really delivering to users, whether they are in your back yard or on another continent."

How to Become a Peer

To build its Last Mile network, Gomez recruits the computers of "peers", consumer-grade computers from everyday people across the globe connected to the web. Leveraging unused processing cycles, Gomez instructs these computers to execute web performance tests on its customers' websites. To become a compensated peer, please visit: http://www.gomezpeerzone.com/.

About Gomez
Gomez, Inc. is the leader in Web application experience management, providing an on-demand platform that organizations use to optimize the performance, availability, and quality of their Web and mobile applications. The Gomez platform identifies business-impacting issues by testing and measuring Web applications from the "outside-in" — across all users, browsers, devices, and geographies — using a global network of over 100,000 locations. The self-service Gomez platform integrates Web load testing, Web performance management, cross-browser testing, and Web performance business analysis. Over 2,500 customers worldwide, ranging from small companies to large enterprises — including 12 of the top 20 most visited US Web sites — use Gomez to increase revenue, build brand loyalty, and decrease costs. Gomez is a registered service mark of Gomez, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

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Media Contacts
Samantha McGarry
Gomez, Inc.
smcgarry@gomez.com
(781) 778-2783

Kristina Leblanc
kristinawleblanc@gmail.com
(508) 930-5636

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