The Husqvarna Group's global network is sizable, encompassing private lines supporting 10Mbps in the U.S., Shanghai, Germany and Sweden, among other places, to connect four main data centers and 200 other separate data-processing sites, such as warehouses. "If a primary line goes down, we'll always have a back-up," says Holmberg, who cites Verizon as a main carrier.

The WebSphere-based multi-lingual e-commerce system is replacing an older web-order application largely created in-house by Husqvarna. But the server infrastructure, databases and network that's already in place will be used by the new IBM-built e-commerce application. BlueStripe FactFinder, which the company has been using for about a year, can also monitor and identify performance issues associated with internal networks and databases. "It works across all the layers to see how long a transaction takes," Holmberg says. "We want to keep control over our internal network."

Ellen Messmer is senior editor at Network World, an IDG publication and website, where she covers news and technology trends related to information security. Twitter: MessmerE. E-mail: emessmer@nww.com.

in Network World's Software section.