NetQoS Integrates with Cisco WAAS to Deliver End-to-End Application Response Time Reporting for WAN Optimization

Business Wire, July 25, 2007

Joint Customers Can Accurately Validate the Results of WAN Optimization Deployments with Network Performance Management Technologies

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- NetQoS([R]) Inc. is working with Cisco([R]) to develop a management interface for accurate end-to-end application response time measurement for WAN optimization. Integrated in Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) devices, the software will allow IT organizations to accurately validate the results of WAN optimization deployments.

"This is a significant advancement in the WAN optimization space, because accurate response time data is essential to ensuring WAN optimization deployments are fully optimizing application performance for the end user, and no other WAN optimization solution offers this," said Dr. Cathy Fulton, NetQoS CTO. "Current WAN optimization technologies obscure application response times through locally acknowledged TCP sessions, making it difficult to quantify the real benefits of a WAN optimization deployment. NetQoS and Cisco have developed a truly end-to-end solution where application performance statistics are captured and reported from the end user to the data center."

The integrated software on Cisco WAAS devices will export TCP header information before optimization occurs to NetQoS SuperAgent, the end-to-end performance monitoring module of the NetQoS Performance Center product suite. Using Cisco WAAS with NetQoS SuperAgent will help enable joint customers to quantify Cisco WAAS response time improvements accurately with before and after analysis and provide consistent and improved application delivery to end users.

To measure Cisco WAAS traffic flow improvements, Cisco and NetQoS will also market NetQoS ReporterAnalyzer([TM]), the traffic analysis module of the NetQoS Performance Center that reports on enterprise wide Cisco IOS([R]) NetFlow statistics. Cisco WAAS provides compliance with network-based NetFlow collection and export, and does not impede the ability to see traffic composition before and after WAN optimization is applied.

"Cisco WAAS integrates transparently within customers' networks, and the management interface we have developed with NetQoS extends that transparency to performance reporting data, giving our customers accurate insight into how to best leverage our technology to maximize application performance and remote user productivity," said Dr. Issy Ben-Shaul, CTO of the Application Delivery Business Unit, Cisco.

Using NetQoS Performance Center modules with Cisco WAAS will help enable IT organizations to validate the results of WAN optimization deployments and:

* Identify and prioritize the network segments and applications that will benefit from a WAN optimization deployment

* Obtain before and after measurements for pilot testing of optimization

* Determine the impact optimization has on application performance and data volume across WAN segments and in the data center

* Troubleshoot problems after rolling out optimization

* Calculate the ROI of WAN optimization deployments

The initiative was driven by mutual customers who wanted accurate end-to-end metrics to ensure optimal application performance, and thus end user productivity. More than 75 enterprise customers have approached Cisco and NetQoS about integrating WAN optimization and performance reporting metrics.

SRA International, Inc. is a leading provider of technology and strategic consulting services and solutions - including systems design, development and integration; and outsourcing and managed services - to clients in national security, civil government, and health care and public health.

"As a Cisco WAAS customer with 45 sites deployed, we are looking forward to the new application performance management integration features in this new software release," said Frank Kist, Acting CIO, SRA International, Inc. "The management interface from Cisco and NetQoS will allow us to accurately measure end-to-end application response time and WAN utilization. With this additional analysis, we can report precisely the performance, productivity and ROI benefits delivered by Cisco WAAS."

In addition to technology integration, NetQoS and Cisco will engage in joint marketing, sales, and support activities, helping customers to understand how to calculate WAN optimization improvements accurately.

The integrated response time solution will be available in the next release of Cisco WAAS, scheduled for the third quarter of 2007. NetFlow reporting is available today, with no changes required to Cisco WAAS or NetQoS ReporterAnalyzer. There will be no additional charge for the integrated NetQoS SuperAgent software that operates on the Cisco WAAS Wide Area Application Engine (WAE) and Wide Area Application Engine Network Module (NME-WAE) devices. Pricing for NetQoS SuperAgent starts at $40,000 and NetQoS ReporterAnalyzer starts at $25,000. The NetQoS Performance Center is available to customers at no additional cost with the purchase of one of NetQoS' product modules.

"Prudent IT managers will not deploy WAN optimization products without first identifying the best candidates for optimization based on traffic composition, latency, and bandwidth utilization, and establishing an end-to-end application performance baseline so that the improvement from optimization can be quantified accurately," said George Hamilton, director of enterprise infrastructure at Yankee Group. "And if quantifying performance improvements is a concern, then this joint NetQoS/Cisco solution should be at the top of any IT manager's list of solutions to evaluate."