Question
I know you have a lot of monitoring in place, but I was wondering if you had anything that would simulate a real shopper on the website. Is that possible?
Answer
Well, actually yes. Rackspace offers something called a Synthetic Transaction Monitor which allows you to simulate a user just as you suggested. Basically, what you do is "script" how someone would use your website by clicking on various links in your website, clicking on products, adding items to their shopping bag and even checking out and placing an order. Synthetic Transaction Monitors can help detect problems that might be missed by traditional monitors because it is actually simulating the process of purchasing items on your website. Combined with the monitoring we already have on your website, it makes for a very robust system to detect issues on your website.
Modern Retail can typically get a new Synthetic Transaction Monitor set up and configured on your website with about a day's worth of work. Additionally, Rackspace charges an additional $75 per month for every Synthetic Transaction Monitor, which we pass-through to you with no additional markup.
Please create a Support Request if you're interested in adding a Synthetic Transaction Monitor to your website. Thank you.