How To Increase Revenue and Protect Your Business from Internet Disruptions with IPM

Over the last few months, we’ve been analyzing the thought-provoking findings of a recent study conducted by Forrester Consulting. This study illuminated the notoriously challenging-to-measure financial impact of Internet disruptions on eCommerce companies.  

Study findings:

• In the month before the study, 37% of the organizations surveyed estimated their companies lost between $100,000-$499,000, and 39% lost $500,000-$999,999 due to internet disruptions.
• Without adequate visibility, companies are experiencing 76 disruptions per month on average.  
• 75% of respondents said IPM would deliver a large or significant increase in revenue.

In this final segment, we’ll delve into why the study argues that “Internet Performance Monitoring (IPM) avoids Internet disruptions and mitigates risk for a successful eCommerce business,” ultimately increasing revenue.  

IPM can significantly increase revenue

In its conclusion, the study states:  

• Investing in IPM pays off. E-commerce leaders expect significant financial benefits from investing in IPM. Companies already using IPM report dramatically fewer challenges.  
• Without the right tools, identifying disruptions is hard and money is lost. Companies that don’t invest in IPM are vulnerable to huge financial losses as service disruptions drive away customers and employees.  
• Few companies are adequately monitoring internet performance. Only 29% of respondents report their companies monitor internet performance across the full Internet Stack and enterprise.

The study further notes, “It’s no surprise respondents report quickly identifying disruptions is incredibly challenging, given how few have invested in IPM.” The survey findings make a strong case for IPM, but why? What makes IPM uniquely positioned to help all businesses, not just eCommerce companies, avoid or mitigate the substantial financial losses that come with Internet disruptions? Let’s take a closer look.  

IPM’s Dual Uniqueness  

IPM is unique in providing complete visibility into the Internet Stack and enabling proactive issue resolution. IPM can proactively manage Internet disruptions at scale, with the advantage of reaching areas of the Internet Stack inaccessible to traditional monitoring tools. IPM’s capability to oversee elements like Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) and third-party APIs, where agent installations aren’t feasible, sets it apart.

Differentiators of Catchpoint IPM:

• Holistic Internet Stack visibility:

IPM transcends traditional monitoring by encompassing not just applications but also Internet Protocol and cloud services, providing coverage for the entire Internet Stack.

• Largest Global Observability Network:

IPM stands out with vantage points across multiple cities and locations worldwide. This broad reach ensures a detailed view of digital performance, facilitating swift identification and rectification of potential issues.

• Unbiased cloud neutrality:

Unlike many tools tied to specific cloud providers, Catchpoint’s observability network is independent. This independence ensures unbiased performance insights, free from any singular cloud service’s limitations or perspectives. As we’re decoupled from hosting cloud providers, we can consistently detect, identify, troubleshoot, and validate problems, even when cloud providers experience downtime.

• IPM’s Focus area is beyond code and application performance:

Unlike Application Performance Monitoring (APM), which centers on code and everything affecting application performance (including database wait times, inefficient code, and resource bottlenecks), IPM’s goal is to ensure the resilience of the new enterprise network – the Internet.

The Benefits of Proactive Issue Resolution

The ability to identify and resolve issues before they result in costly disruptions cannot be overstated. For example, suppose a third-party payment service is experiencing an outage. In that case, IPM can alert the company in real-time, allowing them to switch to an alternative payment provider and avoid lost sales.  

IPM also enables companies to proactively monitor their Internet performance and identify potential issues before they impact customers. This capability can help companies improve their customer experience by reducing page load times, minimizing downtime, and ensuring a smooth and seamless shopping experience.

This is a crucial component of business continuity, as Internet disruptions can cause widespread damage to businesses. The study identified a host of adverse outcomes caused by Internet disruptions, such as increased customer churn (66%), lack of consumer confidence (64%), and lost revenue (61%). They can also damage companies internally by increasing employee churn (55%) and reducing workforce productivity (49%).

How IPM Differs from APM

Unlike traditional monitoring solutions with limited or local reach, IPM is purpose-built to account for the new norms of the Internet, cloud, and SaaS. It has distinct capabilities versus other monitoring capabilities. The result is the ability for proactive action to catch Internet Stack incidents before they impact your business.

APM focuses on code optimization using cloud synthetic agents. The tool prioritizes tracing, diagnostics, and enhancing app efficiency, overseeing software and hardware interactions. However, its cloud-centric approach restricts full insight into genuine user experiences.  

On the other hand, IPM delivers comprehensive insights across all facets of the Internet affecting business operations, including LAN, WAN, ROBO, and EDGE. Employing tools including synthetics and RUM, IPM uniquely captures the genuine experience of users, who connect from diverse settings and devices, emphasizing the true user journey over mere technical metrics.

It’s crucial to highlight that IPM and APM serve different purposes and are not direct competitors. Instead, they complement each other. For instance, global companies like SAP use Catchpoint to ensure seamless Internet functionality and customer experience for their SAP Commerce Cloud. While they rely on APM for the efficiency of their application stack, IPM ensures the resilience of their Internet Stack.

Investing In Robust IPM Improves CX And Increases Revenue

The fact that 75% of respondents said IPM would deliver a “large” or “significant” increase in revenue speaks to the power of IPM.  

With businesses reporting significant losses due to Internet disruptions, IPM’s proactive and comprehensive approach is not just recommended but essential for ensuring robust digital operations, optimal user experiences and increasing revenue.

To learn more about the impact of Internet disruptions on eCommerce companies and how IPM can help mitigate these risks, download the full study by Forrester Consulting.

Watch a recording of the launch webinar with guest speaker, Vice President, Principal Analyst at Forrester, Sucharita Kodali.

To find out how to achieve Internet Resilience with Catchpoint, download our Platform Overview Solution Brief.