IT directors given weapon to attack ISPs' performance

Software released today by start-up iowatch is designed to check the performance of ISPs' networks, giving companies the data they need to ensure their suppliers are reaching service level agreements (SLAs).

If they fail, customers will be in a position to claim compensation.

One of iowatch's beta-testing customers says it is in the process of getting compensation from its ISP, Cable & Wireless (C&W), because of an outage highlighted by the software. When C&W tried to argue it had not breached the SLA, the customer, Associated Bulk Carriers (ABC), had the data it needed to prove otherwise.

Tim Hawk, IT manager of ABC, said: "We pay C&W an awful lot of money and expect honesty in return. But we would never have got any money back from C&W without iowatch."

C&W would not comment on the details of the case, but said in a statement it was aware of the matter and doing everything it could to speedily resolve it. Other ISPs, including PSINet, Demon and UUNet, were unable to comment on the new service.

Heleen Kist, MD of the new company, said the software will protect IT directors from damage due to ISP downtime, by giving alerts when problems occur and by pinpointing faults.

She said some ISPs had over-promised on their SLAs: "The ISPs are not proactively monitoring uptime for their smaller companies - they haven't got the time. Many smaller businesses feel they are at the mercy of their ISP, and want an independent audit of performance."

End users have welcomed the news. Peter Knight, IT director at financial services firm Capital One, said: "This is very beneficial to businesses. If you are conducting ebusiness then the first you might hear of web connection problems would be from your customers - which could be disastrous."

Analysts also agreed the tool would be useful. Gary Cooper, director of research at the Butler Group, said the ability to guarantee SLAs will be of vital importance in the growing ASP market, with IT directors nervous as to whether applicationss delivered over the internet could be guaranteed. He said: "The SLA is going to be the prime differentiator between good ASPs and bad, so this kind of product is critical to see if ASPs deliver."

The news coincides with the release today of a report which finds the provision of reliable, broadband, always-on internet access to be absolutely vital to the development of the ASP market. The report, from Analysys, claims continuing worries about SLAs are a barrier to widespread adoption.