Why? Thanks to everyone's favorite 'hot topic', the ubiquitous e-business application. It is now a cliché to say that the competition is only a click away. It has become a cliché because in the world of e-business it is so true!

In the past, a client might get impatient if your EPOS system was slow, causing them to queue for longer than they wished in your store. Typically however, they grumbled but remained. Your business still got the revenue from that transaction. Next time they needed to buy, they might go to your competitor. However, if your store was the most convenient, or had the best car park, or was easy to reach during their lunch hour, the chances are that they remained a client.

The equivalent in e-business terms to a queue at an EPOS till is a poorly performing web site. Now, after a few seconds waiting, they simply type in your competitor's web address and buy from them. Thus you lose the revenue from that transaction. The next time they want to buy, you are no more convenient than your competition. Having had a bad experience shopping with you last time, the odds are heavily in favor of them buying from your competition again this time. Hence you lose the value if that initial transaction and all future sales to that individual.

Your business case for getting the right products to ensure effective system performance has thus never been stronger. It is easier than it has ever been to relate poor performance of IT systems to lost revenue and thus justify expenditure on products that will ensure acceptable service levels