B2B ISVs must have a live service status dashboard to keep their SaaS subscribers informed about service status and planned downtime.

My last post was about learning from Friday’s Amazon S3 downtime. The main point is that you must keep your subscribers informed. A live service status dashboard shows the key data your subscribers need.

Amazon did not have this for S3. Subscribers were left to guess if there was a problem, and when it would be fixed. They have now said they will release a live service status dashboard soon.

Lets have a quick look at some live service dashboards. Look what others are doing to get ideas to improve your own dashboard.

DoubleClick

DoubleClick has a live service status dashboard for their ad network. This is the DART dashboard for their campaign platform. We can see the number of ads, the number of ads displayed and ad serving speed.

The main customers of DART are ad agencies and media firms. This might explain the dashboard design. For many B2B ISVs this type of design could be see as too “marketing”. The focus must be on the status and not the graphic design of the dashboard.

The second example shows real-time monitors for the DoubleClick network from Gomez, Inc. The user first sees a world map. This shows the areas serviced by DoubleClick. The user then clicks on an area (USA here). The user now sees the number of monitors running and the current response times for that area.

I am also not sure that Flash is a good idea for a live service status dashboard. I had problems accessing the site from Firefox. Worked OK from IE, Safari and Opera.

Intuit QuickBase

QuickBase is a set of workgroup tools to manage projects, sales etc. The QuickBase live service status dashboard is much simpler than DoubleClick’s. The key data can be taken in at a glance.

A nice extra is to show planned downtime. The right side shows service status over the past 30 days. Each planned and unplanned event is explained.

If you do not yet have a live status dashboard then this is a good place to start. Do not forget to add an RSS feed, though.

Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com added the Trust live service status dashboard in 2006. Much like Amazon S3 today, Trust was a response to major downtime at the end of 2005 and the start of 2006. The status of each instance is clearly shown, plus details of the past 30 days. Clicking on a non-green status icon pops up details of the problem and the fix.

This dashboard has more detail than QuickBase. Again, there is no RSS feed of service status changes.

OpenDNS

The final example in this quick roundup is from OpenDNS, a free DNS resolution service. Their live service status dashboard shows what can be done. Current status is shown at the top of the page. Details from the last 30 days are in the body of the page. The status icons are clearly explained.

Clicking a non-green status icon pops up details of the problem. The wording is friendlier than on Salesforce.com. They are even signed by a real person, giving a more honest and open feel. There is a graphic of service use in the top right.

If OpenDNS is down the dashboard might not be found. A bookmark of the IP address helps for this case. Plus points for the clear link to a RSS feed to get service status updates.

Improve your dashboard

There are a number of ways to design your dashboard. I do not suggest you follow the design used by DoubleClick. The very clear and clear page from OpenDNS is a better model in my view. It shows the key data the users need. The downtime text is clear. The RSS feed is a strong plus point.

Your live service status dashboard must give a honest view of your SaaS system. Resist not showing all problems or downtime. Salesforce.com customers have reported downtime which the firm denied. This does not look good in the press and on blogs. You must be 100% open and honest in your dashboard. OpenDNS sign their explanation pop-ups. This builds trust. Follow this good idea on your dashboard.

Please share

I hope you liked this first quick look at some live service status dashboards and found some ideas here to improve your own dashboard. Please share your ideas to improve this vital aspect of SaaS for all B2B ISVs. Add a link to your dashboard in the comments.

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SaaS Dashboards

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