What is synthetic monitoring and how does it ensure application availability?
A proactive monitoring practice that simulates user behavior to detect failures and performance bottlenecks before real customers are affected
Your customer tries to log in, but the site is slow. They try to complete a purchase, but the cart throws an unexpected error. By the time you finally discover the issue, the customer has already given up and moved on to a competitor. In the digital market, waiting for the real user to report a failure is reactive — and far too costly.
This is exactly the scenario that Synthetic Monitoring exists to prevent. This proactive practice uses automated scripts to simulate the user journey 24/7, testing login, checkout, and other critical functions. It detects errors before your customers encounter them, ensuring application availability and performance. In this guide, we explain how it works, its benefits, and why it’s essential.
Clear definition
Synthetic monitoring is an active practice that uses automated scripts capable of simulating real user interactions with an application. Unlike passive monitoring, which relies on data generated by actual users, this technique performs continuous, scheduled tests to ensure that systems remain available and high-performing.
Importance in the digital context
In an increasingly digital and competitive market, ensuring that websites, APIs, and applications function correctly at all times is essential. Synthetic monitoring allows teams to anticipate failures, reducing the impact on the end user and preventing operational and reputational losses.
Key related terms
- Active / proactive monitoring
- Automated scripts (bots)
- Critical journey testing
- Global and multi-device monitoring
How does Synthetic Monitoring work?
User behavior simulation
Through bots that follow predefined scripts, it is possible to emulate typical user actions such as logging in, navigating, searching, adding products to the cart, and completing a purchase. This simulation helps ensure that essential functionalities are always operational.
Monitoring from multiple locations
Tests are executed from various geographic points to identify performance and availability variations caused by location, network conditions, or local infrastructure.
Scheduled and continuous tests
The scripts run automatically at short intervals—often every few minutes—ensuring up-to-date data and rapid issue detection.
Benefits of Synthetic Monitoring for Availability
Proactive issue detection
By identifying failures before real users encounter them, teams can act preventively against slowness, outages, or errors, reducing negative impacts.
Minimizing downtime
With instant alerts and 24/7 monitoring, synthetic monitoring enables rapid response, limiting the duration of any interruptions.
Establishing a performance baseline
Continuous tests help create a stable reference for metrics such as response time and error rate, making it easier to spot deviations and analyze trends.
Practical applications and examples
Monitoring critical user flows
Companies can test processes such as registration, authentication, payments, and search on a daily basis, ensuring they are always available to users.
Evaluating APIs and backend services
Synthetic monitoring also checks the behavior of APIs and essential services, helping identify internal bottlenecks.
Monitoring in pre-production environments
Tests can be run in staging environments to validate new features before they are released.
How to implement Synthetic Monitoring in your organization
Defining critical user journeys
Map the main paths users take through the application, prioritizing those related to revenue and customer experience.
Choosing the right tools
There are several platforms that offer advanced automation and monitoring capabilities. The choice should consider integration, scalability, and ease of use.
Configuring tests and alerts
Set up accurate scripts, define key metrics, and establish clear alerts so the responsible team can act quickly.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Ignoring tests from multiple locations
Failing to consider geographic diversity can lead to a limited view of real performance for users in different regions.
Relying solely on synthetic monitoring
Although essential, synthetic monitoring should be complemented by real-user monitoring (RUM) to capture unexpected situations based on actual user behavior.
Not updating scripts when the application changes
Outdated scripts can generate false alerts or fail to detect issues, compromising the effectiveness of monitoring.
What differentiates synthetic monitoring from passive monitoring?
Synthetic monitoring is performed through automated tests that simulate users, while passive monitoring collects data from real-user behavior during actual application use.
Which metrics are most relevant in synthetic monitoring?
Response time, availability, error rate, loading speed, and the success of business-critical flows are commonly monitored metrics.
How does synthetic monitoring contribute to user experience?
By detecting and resolving issues in advance, it ensures a smooth experience without noticeable interruptions or slowdowns.
Can synthetic monitoring replace traditional monitoring?
No. They complement each other. Synthetic monitoring is proactive and validates expected flows; traditional monitoring captures real and unforeseen events.
What are the limitations of synthetic monitoring?
It cannot cover unexpected behaviors and may not identify root causes without additional infrastructure and application data.
Can synthetic monitoring be integrated into CI/CD processes?
Yes, by running automated tests in pipelines to validate new versions before deployment to production.
What is the ideal frequency for running synthetic tests?
It depends on the context, but short cycles (every few minutes) are recommended for highly effective rapid detection.
How do you choose synthetic monitoring tools?
Consider ease of configuration, geographic coverage, support for multiple protocols, and cost-effectiveness.
Can synthetic monitoring help with mobile applications?
Yes, by simulating interactions and analyzing performance across different devices and mobile networks.
Is implementing synthetic monitoring expensive?
There are options for different budgets, with scalability for small businesses up to large enterprises.
How do you deal with false positives in synthetic monitoring?
By adjusting scripts, alert thresholds, and reviewing logs to ensure alerts are accurate and relevant.
Which areas of a company benefit from synthetic monitoring?
IT, development, operations, support, and business teams — all benefit from improved availability and performance.
Comparativo entre Synthetic Monitoring e Monitoramento Real (RUM)
| Aspect | Synthetic Monitoring | Real User Monitoring (RUM) |
| Nature | Proactive simulated tests | Passive monitoring with real data |
| Timing | Executed continuously at set intervals | Dependent on actual user traffic |
| Coverage | Specific journeys and flows | All users and behaviors |
| Failure detection | Anticipated, before user impact | Reactive, after user impact |
| Limitations | Does not capture unexpected behaviors | Does not detect issues before users encounter them |
Is your monitoring still reactive?
Waiting for a user to complain before discovering a failure is no longer an option. Synthetic Monitoring is essential, but it can become even smarter and more predictive.
The MJV AIRA platform takes your monitoring to the next level. We use Artificial Intelligence not only to simulate critical journeys, but also to analyze complex patterns, predict failures before they occur, and optimize performance in ways traditional tools cannot.
Ensure full availability of your applications with AI-powered proactive monitoring here.
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