Mercury, other vendors move to improve the evaluation of applications.

When vendors of load/performance testing start adding support for a particular technology, it's only a matter of time before that technology takes off. Mercury Interactive last week became the latest bellwether in the wireless Internet access arena with its plan to add comprehensive testing for both WAP and I-mode protocols.

The 800-pound gorilla of the load-testing world weighed in last week with support across its software and services and a string of partnerships with key wireless vendors such as Nokia. The support follows on the heels of Wireless Application Protocol support added by smaller testing players including Segue Software and RadView Software. Another competitor, RSW Software, will release its WAP support next month.

Although these vendors admit it's still early in the market, industry observers said they believe that having the ability to test the performance of applications before they're deployed is key to the technology's success.

"What happens is that people tend to forget about it until the applications fail. Then it becomes a huge headache," said Melinda Ballou, an analyst at Meta Group, "If you fix something before it's deployed, you're better off than having it fail after it's out there."

As such, wireless Internet access has received bad press lately -- a lot of which can be blamed on the hype machine. Load and functional testing technology can help to solve some performance issues, but setting proper expectations is also key, said Richard Owen, CEO of AvantGo. "Some of the problems are with the distinct limitations of the protocols," Owen said. "Probably the biggest problem is that people in the wireless industry have overpromised."

However, the layers of complexity that wireless Internet access adds can also create a lot of potential gotchas. "The problem for us is huge. There are lots of components [from different vendors] that need to work in a well-orchestrated manner, or the user will have a terrible experience," said Steve Milsom, system test manager at One2One Mobile Telecommunications.

During a performance test using Mercury's software with WAP support, Milsom found that his company's roughly US$16 million production system could support only seven concurrent users. Finding and fixing such performance problems before applications are deployed is "key to the actual success of the system," he said.

Mercury's testing incorporates both WAP or I-mode gateway and the handheld devices themselves. The support is being added to Mercury's LoadRunner load testing tool, Topaz performance monitor and WinRunner functional testing tool. Mercury will also provide monitoring and testing services of WAP and I-mode implementations through its ActiveWatch and ActiveTest programs. But the centerpiece of the company's wireless Internet access strategy is its alliances with key players in the wireless industry.

Mercury is teaming with leading players in four areas: handheld device manufacturers, service providers, WAP providers for customer Web sites and e-commerce sites. On the handheld device side, Mercury licensed technology from Nokia, of Espoo, Finland, to ensure that its software accurately emulates wireless virtual users and stays current with the changing WAP protocol standard. By emulating the device's microbrowser and its extended feature sets on a PC, LoadRunner can test thousands of microbrowser virtual users against a Wireless Markup Language Web site. Mercury has also teamed with wireless service providers AvantGo, Brience and Everypath to help them in their development of WAP-enabled sites.

In addition, Mercury is working with systems integrators that are building wireless applications from scratch, such as Andersen Consulting, Agency.com and others. "What's made [Mercury] powerful in the past is its strategic partnerships," said Theresa Lanowitz, an analyst at Gartner Group, "They partner with the right people. They did that here, too."

Mercury is not alone in working with partners, and its agreements are not exclusive. RadView has worked with Phone.com and Software.com, which have used RadView's WAP emulator for testing, according to Pia Chon, director of product marketing at RadView. Other strategic partnerships are in the works, although Chon could not discuss those during the company's pre-initial-public-offering quiet period.

Mercury's wireless support is available now in its LoadRunner and ActiveTest software and service. Wireless support is slated to be available in WinRunner, Topaz and Active Watch software and services by year's end. ENDS

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