Deployment

Account and credentials

  • Acquire test accounts for Office 365 that will be used for Exoprise CloudReady synthetics. We fully support both federated and managed accounts and recommend trying them both.

  • OAuth is supported for many of the API sensors and, where possible, for parts of a complete test (like OWA). Now that basic authentication is gone, OAuth is frequently required.

  • MFA/2FA is supported for many sensors and any SaaS property that uses Azure AD (AAD) as your SSO/SAML solution. For more information, refer to Multi-factor authentication for synthetics.

  • The Add Sensor page describes the sensor requirements, including things like authorization for each sensor. Click through to the introduction on each sensor for more details about what it tests.

Signing in and starting a trial

Refer to Starting a trial.

Exoprise Management Client

  1. Once signed in, download the Exoprise Management Client from here and install it.

  2. Once installed, start the Client and log in using your credentials.

To learn about the Exoprise Management Client, refer to Exoprise Management Client.

Start deploying

There are two types of monitoring:

  • Synthetic Monitoring (refer to Sensor) for proactively detecting issues.

  • Real User Monitoring (RUM) for diagnosing end-user problems.

You can read about Synthetic Monitoring or Service Watch (RUM) on our website. We also have a great article that covers the pros and cons of each methodology.

Deploying Service Watch

Exoprise Service Watch is real user monitoring for SaaS, UCaaS, and Microsoft 365 apps. Service Watch runs on your end-user devices and utilizes an agent and browser extension to capture the complete digital experience and network performance of apps and services. It’s great for monitoring SaaS services and applications you don’t own.

Deploying Service Watch requires the ability to install software on the machine. For Service Watch to gather network telemetry, it requires administrative rights on the machine and should be installed as a Windows Service running as LocalSystem or a service account. To install Service Watch as a service, you will need administrative rights.

Refer to Deployment in Service Watch.

Deploying Private Sites

Deploying a Private Site requires the ability to install software on the machine you want to run the CloudReady Synthetics from. Ideally, you should use a machine that is always running, 24x7. If you run sensors from a laptop and the laptop shuts off, the sensors won't be running, and you won't get proactive notifications about performance or outages.

Refer to Guided site installation.

Private Sensors

Private Sensors run on your computers to simulate a user accessing a cloud service like Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, or Microsoft Teams. First, you deploy what we call a Private Site to any Windows OS (it's a Windows service). Refer to Private Sites. Then you deploy sensors to start monitoring your cloud apps. The data analysis and alerting occur on Exoprise servers that run in the cloud.

We require that you have a well-maintained machine, successfully running Windows Update, and follow Microsoft guidelines for maintaining the computer. Why? Because good software depends on it.

Refer to Configuring a synthetic.

Public Sensors

Public Sensors are similar to Private Sensors, but they run on our computers in the cloud. They’re great for comparing public cloud performance to the performance of an enterprise network, but they don’t tell you about the digital experience that users may experience within your environment.

Refer to Configuring a synthetic.

Proxy considerations for corporate environments

Many enterprise customers come to Exoprise to test the performance of cloud and SaaS services from behind proxies. Proxies do generally slow down cloud service access, and IT administrators want to measure the effects.

Exoprise fully supports synthetic transactions through proxies of all kinds and configurations. Additionally, Service Watch can be used through proxies. Here is a list of helpful notes about proxied environments:

  • The Exoprise Management Client fully supports reading and utilizing the same proxy that your desktop is configured to use (Internet Explorer Options). It can also utilize Proxy PAC or WPAD options.

  • An Exoprise Private Site and all of its sensors can utilize and test web services through proxies.

  • To properly utilize Proxy PAC or WPAD proxy configurations for a Private Site setup, you must install the Private Site as a service account. Refer to Proxy setup, requirements, and firewall exclusions.

  • By default, when setting up a Private Site as a Local System, the setup wizard will configure a fixed proxy. Utilize a service account for the Private Site if you want to use Proxy PAC or WPAD.

Inviting members of the team

Inviting colleagues to help evaluate Exoprise during the trial period is easy. Just navigate to Admin > Users and generate an invitation. Ensure the people you invite sign up with the link provided in the email; otherwise, they may not sign up for the same tenant.