WhaTap Japan Implements Integrated IT Monitoring "WhaTap" for Shikoku Shimbun's Digital Media Operations

WhaTap Japan Co., Ltd., a provider of integrated IT monitoring and observability tools, announced that its integrated IT monitoring product suite "WhaTap" has been implemented for the digital media operations of Shikoku Shimbun Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Shikoku Shimbun).

Shikoku Shimbun, established in 1889 and based in Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, is a historic newspaper company. It delivers a wide range of information essential to the lives of its prefectural residents, including local news within Kagawa Prefecture, as well as domestic and international politics, economics, and sports on a daily basis. In addition to its main newspaper, it provides diverse information rooted in the lives of local residents through tabloid papers such as "Health Shimbun."

In recent years, in response to the digitalization of information, it has been actively developing digital services to enhance reader convenience, such as "BUSINESS LIVE," "Shikoku Shimbun WEB Morning Edition," and "Newspaper Viewer." On the other hand, with the expansion of business in the digital domain, the number of end-users accessing its websites has increased. As a media site used daily by many readers, maintaining stable service provision and a comfortable user experience has become an increasingly important challenge.

Previously, Shikoku Shimbun monitored its infrastructure layers, such as networks and servers, using existing integrated operations management tools. However, as media sites became more advanced and complex, infrastructure monitoring alone made it difficult to fully grasp the status of the entire system. In particular, the inability to visualize issues from an end-user perspective, such as database and application internal processing status, server-side processing in response to user operations, and performance degradation or errors occurring in the browser, posed a significant operational hurdle.

To address these challenges, Shikoku Shimbun implemented the following WhaTap product suite for a portion of its web systems:

WhaTap APM (.NET): Tracks and monitors application performance. WhaTap DB Monitoring (SQL Server): Visualizes database operating status and queries. WhaTap Server Monitoring: Grasps detailed server resource status and automatically collects process information. WhaTap Browser Monitoring: Monitors the end-user's browser experience.

With the implementation of WhaTap, Shikoku Shimbun has established a monitoring system that provides a consistent overview of the entire system, from the infrastructure layer to applications, databases, and even the end-user's browser screen. This has made it possible to visualize internal system processing status and front-end issues that were previously difficult to grasp, leading to operational improvements in the following four main aspects:

First, the visualization of the backend domain has significantly reduced response times when problems occur. Previously, even if server uptime could be monitored, the internal processing status of applications and databases could not be fully understood, leading to time-consuming identification of the causes of delays and errors. After implementing WhaTap, bottlenecks within the system can be quickly identified, enabling a smooth transition to cause investigation.

Second, proactive fault detection is now possible through front-end monitoring. Previously, it was difficult for the system to directly grasp errors occurring in the web site's browser, and in some cases, the fault was only discovered after receiving reports from users. The implementation of WhaTap Browser Monitoring allows for the prior detection of web site display speed degradation and front-end errors, shifting operations to address issues before user dissatisfaction becomes apparent.

Third, continuous improvement of website quality based on user behavior analysis is now possible. After the implementation of WhaTap, the process from when an end-user accesses a website until they leave can be tracked and visualized. By grasping resources that take time to load, load times, and the presence of invisible errors as concrete data, site improvements can be continuously made while eliminating user stress factors.

Fourth, it contributes to improving reliability as a media outlet through the stable operation of its website. For a newspaper company that delivers information to the local community, maintaining a state where its website can be stably browsed at any time is a crucial foundation for supporting trust with readers. WhaTap's rapid troubleshooting and continuous quality improvement function as an important mechanism supporting Shikoku Shimbun's digital media operations.

WhaTap Japan will continue to support companies in visualizing their IT operating environments in real-time, ensuring stable system operation, accelerating fault response, and improving user experience.