Akamai mPulse vs AlertSite comparison

Akamai mPulse is a real user monitoring (RUM) solution that gives performance engineers, administrators, and developers the ability to effortlessly visualize website functionality issues and identify ways to improve processes that conventional testing protocols do not find. mPulse gives users usable scenarios to better understand how processes such as user interactions, visual progress, and third-party resources may be disrupting the overall user experience and application delivery.

mPulse enables users to take a deep dive into the specific performance issues and complete comprehensive error analyses, to thoroughly understand the effect on critical user interactions such as conversions, page views, and more.

mPulse gathers and delivers data on an organization's website’s performance and metrics on user web browsing experiences. The mPulse feature “Boomerang” is a JavaScript Library that monitors the website page load time. Boomerang has a unique plugin architecture and works with all websites. The Boomerang feature is embedded on each page of an organization's website.

mPulse works seamlessly with Akamai solution Ion, so the RUM data can be instantly gathered once the Luna Control Center has been activated. Ion instantly attaches Boomerang to the organization’s web properties; there is no need to change the website code.

Akamai mPulse Benefits

• Third-party monitoring: mPulse enables users to effortlessly monitor and visualize the effect that third-party vendors, resources, and scripts may have on the organization’s web properties.
  
  
• Real-time intuitions: RUM data is continually being gathered, so users are able to instantly experience changes in user performance during every critical event. Users are able to respond immediately and make corrections or amendments as needed. Additionally, mPulse integrates effectively with other third-party notification solutions, such as Slack, PagerDuty, and webhook API support.
  
  
• Framework integrations: mPulse integrates with many of today’s popular single-page application (SPA) frameworks, such as React.js, Backbone.js, Angular.js, Ember.js, and even some custom frameworks. mPulse has the ability to also be seamlessly integrated in Non-SPA websites.
  
  
• Intuitive feedback: mPulse gathers data and creates workable solutions so users have a better understanding of how objects, images, or even entire pages are affecting user behavior. Users can gather numerous metrics (custom or advanced) to achieve a better, more complete understanding of ways to improve the user experience with the application or website.
  
  
• Custom metrics and timers: With mPulse, users can effortlessly create custom timers to discover important performance sessions unique to the application. The mPulse dashboard allows users to set up trackers for numerous metrics, such as:
  
  
  • First image load time
  • Sidebar load time
  • Page load times
  • Third-party resource content load time
    
    
• mPulse Beacon API: This valuable benefit allows users to send custom metrics from mobile and web applications to mPulse. This gives mPulse greater flexibility and usability to frameworks and platforms that can make HTTP calls. Representational State Transfer (REST) interface is included and is able to be used by any web application using any language running on the platform. There is also a Beacon API library for JavaScript. This option is available from the dashboard by creating a new application and an API key.

SmartBear's AlertSite is an application performance management and system monitoring software. AlertSite is an early warning system that users can rely on to monitor their websites, web apps, and APIs from any physical location as well as from within their private networks. It offers real-time alerting with root-cause analytics and robust reporting. AlertSite allows you to proactively monitor from an independent network of over 350 monitoring nodes worldwide.

Here are AlertSite’s 6 use cases: 

1. Monitor web: AlertSite monitors beyond availability to detect performance anomalies and notify the appropriate people when deviations occur, whether it's online apps or websites.
   
   
2. Monitor APIs: Check to see that your internal, external, and third-party APIs are working properly, returning the correct content, and performing as expected.
   
   
3. Monitor apps: With nearly any action, monitor your online sites and applications using actual browsers, just like a consumer. There is no need for scripting.
   
   
4. Monitor mobile: Monitor your mobile-friendly websites, native mobile apps, carrier-based nodes, and network speeds with real devices (3G, 4G LTE).
   
   
5. Monitor SLAs: Make sure you're meeting service-level agreements' requirements. SLA requirements are monitored and reported on by AlertSite.
   
   
6. Monitor cloud: Monitor your cloud-based applications to improve mobility. AlertSite monitors your apps across public and private clouds, giving you complete visibility into their status.

AlertSite Features

AlertSite has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Enables a comprehensive view of UI and API performance.
  
  
• Monitoring coverage from 350+ worldwide nodes and private networks.
  
• Integrates with DevOps and Ops tool stacks.
  
  
• Displays availability and performance data that assist in determining the root cause of performance problems.
  
  
• With AlertSite's Single Sign-On (SSO) support, you can assist your authentication procedures.
  
  
• Free training and assistance. AlertSite’s responsive team is always there to assist you, from the initial rollout through day-to-day support.
  
  
• Eliminates the stress of false alerts using these key features:
  
  
  • Tracks the performance of your apps, APIs, and websites.
    
  
  
  • Sets up monitor and alarm schedules, as well as blackout periods and retry choices.
    
  
  
  • Sets alert thresholds that are both static and dynamic.
    
    
  • Calculates the number of failures needed to set off an alarm.
    
    
  • After the first failure, retries logic.
    
  
  
  • Based on error code, sends an alert to recipients and group routing.
    
  
  
  • Tests from over 85 different locations across the world, with internal and external monitoring.
    
  
  
  • Defines assertions and validations.
    
  
  
  • Integrates with PagerDuty, Slack, Splunk, VictorOps, and more.

• Easy configuration with help from these key features:
  
  
  • DejaClick is an intuitive, seamless plug-in for documenting web transactions and user journeys.
    
  
  
  • Use the point-and-click script creation for website, web, and mobile monitor scripts.
    
  
  
  • Benefit from using native API monitor creation.
    
  
  
  • Scripts for functional tests can be reused.
    
  
  
  • Automate monitor creation by using Swagger Specs or OpenAPI Specification files.