When purchasing a car for the first time, used cars are often considered as an option. However, unlike buying a new car, acquiring a used car involves several steps before it can be fully owned. Compared to new car purchases, there is a higher information asymmetry for consumers, including false listings, price discrepancies from dealers, and more complex processes such as transfer of titles and obtaining loans. These factors create a significant entry barrier for consumers.
To simplify this process, a new service called Carmerce was recently launched. Carmerce acts as a platform, providing used cars to consumers like an open market. It offers an online platform where all procedures, from vehicle registration to purchasing, loans, transfer of titles, and previous registration, can be handled through a secure three-step authentication system.
During the initial stages of service launch, effective monitoring becomes essential to ensure stable operation and quick resolution of any errors. The Carmerce development team has successfully reduced their development time by up to 80% by utilizing WhaTap monitoring. To learn more about their experience with WhaTap monitoring, we had the opportunity to speak with the team.
"With WhaTap, we could overcome errors and unexpected situations by proactively monitoring key metrics and data records. Without WhaTap, we would rely on customer requests, leading to delays in improving our service and operating in the dark"
- Junseop Lee, Handle Development Team -
Introduction: Introduce your company and infrastructure
Please tell us about your company and your responsibilities.
Mr. Seungwon Lee (hereinafter referred to as Seungwon): Handle is a mobile automobile distribution company that recently launched Carmerce, a used car e-commerce platform. Compared to the new car buying process, the dealer's influence is significant, and there is a notable information asymmetry for consumers. Carmerce aims to minimize risk factors in the used car transaction process, such as opaque prices and fake listings, making it as convenient as purchasing essential items online.
Junseop Lee (hereafter Junseop): I am responsible for search engine development in the development team. Previously, my responsibilities included deployment, source management, and CI/CD. However, with the expansion of our services, I have also taken on monitoring dutie
How is Handle's IT infrastructure organized?
Junseop: Currently, we utilize Google Cloud (GCP) and AWS Cloud for our infrastructure. Additionally, we employ NHN Cloud for the loan entity relay service, which allows us to compare loan products. As for our development environment, we employ Java, Kotlin, and Node.js for the backend, React and React Native for the frontend, Docker for the development environment, and Kubernetes for the service.
Challenge: How we started using WhaTap
What made you choose WhaTap and how did you discover it?
Seungwon: Initially, we employed WhaTap to monitor only a few services running on AWS. However, as our main service expanded, we needed to broaden our monitoring scope, so we started utilizing both GCP and AWS. Since launching the Carmerce service, our monitoring requirements have grown, prompting us to incorporate more WhaTap monitoring.
Previously, we relied on ELK for log monitoring and used open source monitoring in an IDC environment. However, those solutions didn't align well with our current cloud environment. Consequently, we conducted a search and came across WhaTap.
On average, how many hours a day do you use monitoring?
Junseop: I open the monitoring screen as soon as I start my workday. Additionally, I have set up Slack to receive WhaTap notifications. Our operations team leader also spends around 30 minutes to an hour in the morning reviewing his WhaTap monitoring screen.
What do you think are the advantages of WhaTap compared to the monitoring solution you used before?
We used to use an installation-based monitoring solution for our affiliate operations. The company had to customize everything to make full use of it. Setting up a single server on the monitoring solution required scheduling an engineer and separate work, which was both cumbersome and time-consuming.
In contrast, WhaTap provides well-documented installation guides and easy-to-follow videos, making the setup process quick and straightforward. This has saved us a significant amount of time.
Please introduce the screen or feature you look at the most in the WhaTap service.
Junseop: I frequently utilize the application dashboard and regularly monitor errors on the hitmap. Additionally, I find the consolidated report feature extremely valuable as it enables me to effortlessly generate reports by selecting multiple projects. This allows me to track the number of errors and observe the percentage increase or decrease over time, helping me set goals for improvement.
In my opinion, the hitmap is an exceptionally powerful feature. It provides insights into the origin of current transaction requests, the specific nature of those requests, how they interact with the database, and even the elapsed time of each transaction.
Management: Troubleshooting experience and why we recommend monitoring for early stage startups
“We have reduced our development time by about 70 to 80% since we adopted WhaTap.
I think the Startup Package is a good promotion that prompts quick decisions and minimizes budget
at the initial stage of launching the service.
- Seungwon Lee, Handle Development Team -
Tell us about your experience solving a problem with WhaTap.
Seungwon: Recently, a foreign customer was verifying their identity to purchase a car, but the parameter value was not set correctly. While monitoring the hitmap transaction, I noticed the error and promptly forwarded it to the person in charge, who resolved the verification problem within 10 minutes. Since then, the same issue has not recurred.
Additionally, as our service is still in its early stages, there are instances when the app suddenly crashes. However, with WhaTap monitoring, I can swiftly detect and resolve these issues.
Before we started using WhaTap, it was challenging to identify the source of problems unless a user reported them. Thanks to WhaTap, I can now clearly see which requests are failing, and I'm grateful for the investment we made in this monitoring service.
Why should startups use monitoring?
I believe it is crucial to implement monitoring as it facilitates the identification of application errors, especially in small teams. By utilizing monitoring, startups can save valuable time and resources by quickly identifying and resolving errors, rather than spending extensive periods searching for their root causes. In particular, if the database is locked, you have to check the query by looking it up, but if you release it by locking in, the same problem does not occur. Therefore, I consider monitoring to be an indispensable system.
Seungwon: Personally, the implementation of monitoring has significantly reduced our development time, by approximately 70 to 80% within our company.
You are currently utilizing the Startup Package, which provides unlimited access to WhaTap's services for USD100 per month only. Please share your recommendations regarding WhaTap's Startup Package for other startups reading Carmerce's review.
Seungwon: While I was aware of the impressive features offered by WhaTap monitoring, I initially hesitated due to the cost, considering our early-stage service and the need to allocate a significant budget from the outset. However, upon discovering the promotional offer for the Startup Package, I made a swift decision. Without the Startup Package, we would have faced extensive internal deliberations. Monitoring is crucial for ensuring the stability of a new service.
We sincerely hope that startups reading our review will seize the opportunity to leverage the WhaTap Startup Package and promptly implement monitoring in their operations!