Gomez Brings Web Apps Up To Speed

Company:

Headquarters: Lexington, Mass.

Technology Sector: Software

Key Product: Gomez ExperienceFirst platform

Year Founded: 2001

Number of Channel Partners: 40 worldwide

Ideal Channel Partner: Enterprise-focused solution provider

Why You Should Care: Gomez tests and measures companies' Web performance from outside the firewall, helping solution providers identify and drive opportunities to boost their customers' online strategy.

The Lowdown: Gomez knows how important solution providers are because the Web performance application vendor used to be one.

For its first few years in existence, Gomez was a Web consultancy, helping customers optimize their Web sites and improve their rankings. About five years ago, the company decided to focus on its software offerings around a Software-as-a-Service model. Now it delivers Web performance testing and measuring, but counts on partners to deliver all the services around those results, said Tom Meusel, vice president of worldwide channels.

"We don't fix anything. Customers are often grateful that we ID pain points and ask, 'Can you fix it?' No. We have an ecosystem of solution providers, from partnerships with companies that deliver technology as well as services," Meusel said.

More than 2,000 customers use Gomez's ExperienceFirst platform to test their Web applications while in development and monitor them after deployment.

The company splits its channel into two categories: delivery partners, which can be other SaaS developers looking to bundle in Web performance metrics, and service partners, which are systems integrators, MSPs and Web-optimization companies, Meusel said. "[Customers] have complex environments and we bring partners to customers to solve that problem," he said.

Gomez competes against Keynote Systems in North America. Other companies measure Web performance, but Meusel points out that those companies test behind the firewall, while Gomez measures outside. That enables Gomez to gather more data points and provide a more accurate picture of Web visitors, he said.

Gomez expects to work more closely with channel partners on engagements in 2009, Meusel said. "That's really an opportunity for us. Solution providers are into delivering services, and we have no interest in that," he said. "We're building methodologies [and] services opportunities to hand to partners to create a revenue stream."