There’s no way around it: ensuring the reliability of web applications is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction and operational efficiency at a high level. Downtime or performance issues can lead to customer frustration, so proactive monitoring plays a critical role in preventing these problems and helping businesses stay ahead of potential disruptions.

But what is monitoring? In layman’s terms, monitoring means keeping an eye on a digital service or web application, in real time, through automated systems. If something goes wrong with the application, the monitoring service will alert people and other systems immediately, ensuring no delay in fixing the problem. Common monitoring software and services include Datadog, Sentry, Jaeger, ELK, etc. Cloud providers also usually offer their own monitoring solutions that anyone can utilize.

The benefits of monitoring

There are several benefits to monitoring software or services effectively. We have highlighted the three most important and obvious ones for this blog post.

First, there is early issue detection. Effective monitoring systems offer real-time visibility into the performance of web applications, allowing IT teams to detect issues before they escalate. For example, spikes in error rates, slower load times, or unusual traffic patterns can all be flagged, giving the development team the opportunity to act quickly. In many cases, this proactive approach means catching small glitches before they turn into bigger problems.

Second, there is the benefit of reduced downtime. One of the greatest advantages of monitoring is the ability to reduce downtime. Downtime can be costly—not just in lost revenue but also in terms of customer trust and satisfaction. A comprehensive monitoring setup can help businesses identify problems immediately and respond in real-time, minimizing system downtime and keeping the user experience smooth.

Lastly, there is performance optimization. Monitoring goes beyond just preventing crashes. It provides valuable insights into how well an application is performing under different conditions, helping teams optimize application speed, scalability, and stability. For instance, by tracking CPU usage, memory allocation, and database response times, teams can pinpoint areas where resources might be overextended and adjust accordingly.

Case example: Identifying a hidden bug with monitoring

To illustrate the power of effective monitoring, let’s look at a recent issue one of our applications encountered. We began noticing sporadic crashes after specific user actions — namely, form submissions. Although this only affected a small percentage of users (about 0.03%), it was a persistent issue, isolated to certain accounts.

Our monitoring system quickly identified the problem: an error involving the Document Object Model (DOM) interacting with certain browser extensions, specifically Google Translate. Further investigation revealed the issue stemmed from a known bug in the version of React we were using.

Thanks to our monitoring tools, we replicated the error in a controlled environment, confirmed the issue, and implemented a fix — all within 20 minutes. Without proper monitoring in place, this small yet disruptive issue could have gone unnoticed for much longer, potentially impacting more users and damaging customer satisfaction.

Use monitoring for smoother experiences

Monitoring is not just about finding and fixing problems; it’s a vital part of maintaining the smooth operation of modern applications. From reducing downtime to improving performance and optimizing the user experience, the benefits are clear. As seen in the example above, having a strong monitoring system in place ensures that when issues arise, they can be quickly identified and resolved.

For digital service developers and owners, investing in monitoring tools pays off repeatedly by ensuring the stability, efficiency, and reliability of web applications—all of which are crucial to staying competitive.