Candle Corp. Introduces Solutions for eBusiness Assurance.

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 1999--

New Offerings Capture Customer Experience of eCommerce

Performance and Enable Online Businesses to Improve Effectiveness of

Their Web Sites and Internet Applications

Candle Corp., the leading developer and supplier of Solutions for Networked Businesses(R), Monday announced a new eBusiness Assurance(tm) initiative, whose purpose is to enable organizations to maximize the performance and availability of their eCommerce sites.

The first solutions Candle is introducing as part of its eBusiness Assurance effort are eBA ServiceMonitor(tm) and eBA ServiceNetwork(tm). These are the first monitoring software and service solutions, respectively, that provide a true measure of the customer experience using a web or eCommerce site. These eBusiness Assurance solutions provide the first hard, quantifiable metrics to determine throughput efficiency for eCommerce and eBusiness.

eBA ServiceMonitor captures, collects and reports the response time and navigation patterns of web sites. It is unique in that it provides the perspective of the end user, not the system, enabling managers of web sites and online businesses to quickly and easily measure performance and make adjustments to web site design, navigation and infrastructure to ensure the highest level of service to their customers.

eBA ServiceNetwork is a business information service that managers can use to study web service levels, historical trends and usage over time. It automatically transforms a large amount of web site activity data into an organized compilation of business insight.

eBA ServiceNetwork gives companies the ability to actually see in business terms, not technical terms, how their eBusiness efforts are rating in customer satisfaction, demand generation and sales, for example -- without the time and expense of building an in-house data warehouse.

"Our new eBusiness Assurance solutions provide business and IT executives with the tools they need to mind the online store," said David Caddis, vice president, response time management & technology, Candle Corp. "As service becomes the key differentiator for eCommerce, businesses that want to ensure the best customer service will need to understand exactly how their customers are interacting with their web sites and eCommerce applications."

Benefits of eBusiness Assurance

eBusiness Assurance empowers organizations to set performance thresholds to ensure the optimal performance and availability of eCommerce sites. Currently, most businesses measure their web site performance response availability by monitoring systems internally or via a service that accesses select site pages. Neither of these options provides a "real world" reflection of web site response time. Because access and usability are increasingly integral to web site success, it is imperative that businesses have the ability to monitor end-user activity.

"eBusiness systems have entered the mainstream for most global 2000 companies, meaning performance management has become critical to ensure the highest level of service to their customers," said Richard Ptak, vice president, systems and application management, Hurwitz Group Inc. "There is no substitute for solutions that address this need by providing relevant information that is the actual response time experience of the on-line user."

Monitoring activity from the end-user perspective, Candle's eBusiness Assurance solutions deliver immediate, accurate information on web site performance. They track users across geographies, access carriers and topologies to provide an accurate and immediate representation of site visitors. By cataloging user entry and exit points, as well as download time for each page, Candle's solutions also capture and chart important information while the user is at the site. Total response time tracked includes network time, download time and server time.

Using multiple reports, eBA ServiceMonitor and eBA ServiceNetwork allow businesses to identify trends, pinpoint bottlenecks and set application performance thresholds. eBA ServiceMonitor tracks all components that contribute to Internet performance - including connection time, page download and resolve, as well each user's entry point and clickstream.

"Retail pioneers such as Sam Walton of Wal-Mart and Stanley Marcus of Nieman Marcus frequently visited their stores to walk around and observe firsthand how their customers were being served," said George Brenner, vice president & general manager, eBusiness Application Services, Candle Corp. "They could see if there were long lines at a cash register in a certain department and gauge the satisfaction of the customers. The on-site managers at `physical' banks and brokerage operations also have this luxury.

"Now, with Candle's eBusiness Assurance solutions, online businesses can also monitor end-user experiences with their web sites and determine, and more importantly, improve customer service and satisfaction," added Brenner.

eBA ServiceMonitor Functionality

With eBA ServiceMonitor, a manager of an eCommerce site can get the following valuable information:

-- Accurate roundtrip response time as experienced by the customer

for each web page URL;

-- Browse time (time customer spends on the web page);

-- Clickstream (the path the user takes to navigate throughout the

site); and

-- Breakdowns of response time by client, network, server and

individual objects on the web pages.

From this information the manager can determine what the minimum requirements are for acceptable service. Furthermore, because eBA ServiceMonitor breaks down the response time into individual components, she can use the metrics to establish zones in need of improvement that are under her control: smaller graphics to most visited pages, faster database access, more hardware, etc.

eBA ServiceMonitor tracks the path the user takes to navigate a web site. If the site is non-intuitive or has circular patterns, the user can get discouraged or frustrated, and leave. This solution will show the most common route users take to arrive at a core function on the site, such as initiating a stock trade, paying a bill or purchasing a book.

Utilizing a non-intrusive Java applet that is initiated when a user enters a web site, eBA ServiceMonitor monitors user activity within the site. Unlike "cookies," which are deposited in the visitor's desktop, eBA ServiceMonitor only tracks users while they are on the site, thereby protecting their privacy.

eBA ServiceNetwork

eBA ServiceNetwork tells companies how long it took customers to perform their desired web site activities, indicating the level of customer satisfaction. It clarifies how effective web sites are demonstrating the performance levels of actual site activity, including the most popular items on a web site and the least popular. eBA ServiceNetwork allows business managers to see performance information in business terms, which helps them share ideas and concerns with the technical professional in charge of running and improving web sites.

Candle aggregates the data collected by eBA ServiceMonitor into a central repository, enabling managers to view this pertinent information in various reports and via interactive analysis using a web browser interface. eBA ServiceNetwork delivers the information it collects from the eBA ServiceMonitor to a data warehouse via Candle's Roma(tm) Network, which is a secure transport and management system for Candle's Response Time Network(tm). This data warehouse is available through a secure intranet site that features password protection and encryption and is available only to authorized users. An online analytical processing (OLAP) engine allows users to view their response time information in a variety of formats.

System Requirements 

eBA ServiceMonitor supports the following web servers and browsers:

Web Servers:

-- Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) v. 3.0 or Microsoft

Windows NT v. 4.0

-- Apache v. 1.3X on Solaris, HP-UX or Microsoft Windows NT

-- Netscape Enterprise Server, FastTrack Server v. 3.x on Solaris,

HP-UX or Microsoft Windows NT

Web Browsers:

-- Netscape v. 3.0 and higher

-- Microsoft Internet Explorer v. 3.0 and higher

-- Any browsers that are Java enabled

Pricing and Availability

Pricing for eBA ServiceMonitor begins at $1,995 for a starter pack that measures up to 10 URLs on a web server. Enterprise configurations are typically priced at $100,000 and up, depending on the size and configuration of the eCommerce site. Pricing for eBA ServiceNetwork varies depending on customer requirements. Both solutions are available immediately.

About Candle Corp.

Candle Corp. of Santa Monica, is the leading independent developer and supplier of Solutions for Networked Businesses. To help customers connect, integrate, and manage their applications, Candle offers products, solutions, and services in the areas of application integration, application and response time management, messaging middleware, and performance and availability management.

For more information on Candle Corporation and its eBusiness Assurance solutions, visit www.candle.com, or call 800/843-3970.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Candle, the Candle logo, Solutions for Networked Businesses, eBA ServiceMonitor, eBA ServiceNetwork, eBusiness Assurance, Response Time Network and Roma are trademarks or registered trademarks of Candle Corporation. Other products mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.