"We were interested in AppMetrics for Transactions for three reasons:
- "One, it would enable us to trace through our transactions to provide a step-by-step record of the preceding events.
- "Two, it would provide us with more statistical information about our processing.
- "Third, it would give us the ability to report on MTS package traffic and volume, and enable capacity planning"
Doug Roberts
Application Architect
Business-based Benefits
- Usage and performance analysis across the application
- Application bottleneck detection and problem alerts
- Key benchmarks and threshold levels optimize application health and performance
- Interactive analytical reports enable fine-tuning to meet precise requirements
- Diagnostic reports and analyses in a test, QA, or production environment
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Apply Technology to Ensure Quality, Convenience, and Great Taste
For 48 years, Schwan's Sales Enterprises, Inc. has served as an enduring example of a company that has earned intensely loyal customers across the generations. As a company that offers superior customer service from superior food products to courteous and convenient delivery, computer operations are demanding -- food must be obtained, prepared, regulatory compliance ensured, shipping and delivery schedules precisely maintained. In addition, Schwan's customers can now place orders over the web. "We support operations with a medium scale n-tier environment," says Sr. Systems Developer John Ratliff. "We run IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server and a number of other applications. We push most of our data through our numerous Microsoft Transaction Servers. The MTS servers run some of our most mission-critical applications, including our website and our primary call center application."
Proactively Maintain Peak Performance with AppMetricsTM for Transactions
It was the desire to proactively maintain peak performance on the MTS servers that brought Xtremesoft AppMetrics for Transactions to the attention of Schwan's operations staff. According to Systems Development Manager Dave Deines, "We wanted to know more about just what these servers were doing. One of our architects attended a conference, where he heard about Xtremesoft and their transaction monitoring software. We didn't consider any other solutions because we weren't aware of any alternatives."
Xtremesoft AppMetrics™ for Transactions is unique. Developed in cooperation with Microsoft, it is the only solution that enables systems administrators to monitor the health of MTS and COM+-developed applications. AppMetrics for Transactions can monitor applications in both production and development environments, while enabling its users to increase the level of detail reported, as performance requires.
This set of capabilities appealed to the Schwan's systems team. According to Schwan's Application Architect Doug Roberts, "We were interested in AppMetrics for Transactions for three reasons. One, it would enable us to trace through our transactions to provide a step-by-step record of the preceding events. Two, it would provide us with more statistical information about our processing. Third, it would give us the ability to report on MTS package traffic and volume, and enable capacity planning."
With agreement to make the purchase, the implementation proceeded smoothly. "Once the decision was made, we set up the beta version and began to work with it," says Ratliff. "Xtremesoft sent in Professional Services staff to assist. In fact, we worked together, both to install the product and to refine it to meet our needs. It was an easy install -- AppMetrics for Transactions was up and running in less than an hour."
After a year, Schwan's is pleased with the results. "We are in the process of rolling Version 2 to our production environment," says Deines. "Within the first few months, it helped us debug a problem we had been trying to solve for some time. But most important, with AppMetrics for Transactions, we were able to start to capture statistics. Historically, we hadn't done much capacity planning. With the fast growing use of both www.schwans.com and 888-SCHWANS, we wanted to be more proactive."
"The stats from AppMetrics contributed to our decision to add servers," agreed Ratliff. "It also helped us set processes in place to regularly monitor MTS applications. Improved monitoring means improved operations. And improved operations means happier customers."
Customer Satisfaction: The Bottom Line
For Schwan's, customer satisfaction is the bottom line. "We believe that AppMetrics for Transactions will help Schwan's provide a very positive customer experience," says Deines. "And positive customer experiences translate into increased customer satisfaction."
"Increased customer satisfaction" remains Schwan's all-pervasive goal. In the words of Alfred Schwan, "While times change, our commitment to quality and great taste never does. … That's why when it comes to quality, convenience, and great taste, Schwan's delivers."
Xtremesoft AppMetrics for Transactions solution helps Schwan's keep this commitment.
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