Expand Networks Announces Virtual WAN Optimization Capabilities

Business Wire, April 7, 2008

Virtual WAN (VWAN) Optimization is the Next Step IT-Initiative for the Enterprise; Ideally suited for Datacenter and Branch office IT Consolidation

ROSELAND, N.J. -- Expand Networks (www.expand.com), a leader in wide area network (WAN) application acceleration and positioned in Gartner's Leaders Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers 2007, today announced plans to release a Virtual WAN (VWAN) Optimization version of its Accelerator Operating System (AOS) that supports seamless integration into the virtual IT infrastructure for both the datacenter and the remote branch. In addition to supporting the enterprise's virtual IT infrastructure, this capability will complement Expand's existing strengths in the server-based computing market and allows for a seamless integration into Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI).

Virtualization in the datacenter is becoming the IT infrastructure of today's enterprise. A consensus of industry analysts project that upwards of 60 percent of all enterprises will implement some form of virtualization within the next three years. Key VWAN implementation essentials include a VWAN optimization appliance, management tools, utilities for high availability and shared storage.

The demand for virtualization is driven by pressures to reduce datacenter and operation costs and the drive towards greener IT. Cost savings include increased server utilization, decreased down time, reduced OS licensing fees, shorter deployment cycles and significantly reduced and easier management. Physical server consolidation lowers power and cooling usage and reduces the carbon footprint by up to 80 percent for a greener IT environment.

"Given Expand's strategic direction and our analysis of the current market trends, we have developed the essential core architecture to support our virtualization initiative. In addition, Expand's modular and open architecture enables us to provide a full virtual solution that doesn't rely on specific hardware. In line with this trend, our VWAN optimization roadmap supports the enterprises' strategy for moving to a pure virtual datacenter infrastructure," said Efi Gatmor, CTO, Expand Networks. "Initially, our VWAN optimization deployment will be done on VMware ESX and VMware Server platforms, offering the strength and flexibility of virtualization in an easy to install, configure and manage package. In the future, other virtualization platforms will be supported."

In parallel with Expand's physical accelerators, the VWAN Optimization solution will continue to provide the same superior acceleration performance along with the ability to handle significantly more users over the same WAN connection to ensure priority for business critical applications. By adding the branch office virtualization solution, enterprises can further reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO) and improve their return on investment (ROI) and realize a performance gain regardless of the platform. In addition, VWAN enables Expand to provide its solution in hostile and harsh environments where an appliance deployment is not feasible.

"With the marketplace and enterprises making the natural migration towards virtualization for their IT environment, VWAN optimization has become a must-have technology" said David White, VP of Business Development, Expand Networks. "The great thing about Expand's virtualization solutions is the ease of integration with OEM and SI partners. No matter what businesses our customers are in, Expand is in a unique position to offer a choice to use a proven appliance or to move to a virtual environment without making overhauls to their network."

Note About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted December 2007 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Expand Networks

Expand Networks is the pioneer and leader in helping organizations simplify their IT infrastructure while delivering remote offices fast, reliable and secure access to networked applications. This results in improved user productivity and cost-effective IT management. Expand offers a multi-service integrated platform that ensures superior performance for any application over any network. From its headquarters in Roseland, NJ and its global locations, Expand Networks (www.expand.com) serves more than 2,500 enterprise and public sector customers including: American Express, Bacardi USA, BMW, Continental Airlines, Carr America, Colgate, Elizabeth Arden, Reed Exhibitions, Target and United States Department of Defense.