Riverbed Expands Branch Office Strategy With Microsoft

Market Wire, May, 2009

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD), the IT infrastructure performance company for networks, applications and storage, today announced that it has forged a deeper relationship with Microsoft to provide enterprises with distributed workers and offices the best possible performance for their Microsoft-based applications and services and to simplify their IT infrastructure. Today, customers are able to run Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, including branch services such as Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, Media Streaming and Print Services, on the Riverbed Services Platform (RSP). As a natural next step, Riverbed® will enable the deployment of Windows Server 2008 R2 on the RSP.

"The relationship between Riverbed and Microsoft continues to grow. We are able to innovate and provide enterprises with solutions that accelerate the performance of their Microsoft environments," said Julius Sinkevicius, director Windows Server Marketing at Microsoft. "Having the support of Riverbed is crucial to the success of our branch office strategy. We're both committed to working jointly to provide our customers with a comprehensive WAN optimization offering by joining complementary solutions."

Microsoft introduced a feature, BranchCache, which is intended to improve performance for Windows 7 users accessing file and Web applications hosted on Windows Server 2008 R2 servers over the WAN. Riverbed enables the deployment of Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 on Steelhead® appliances with the RSP. Customers currently deploy Windows Server on the RSP to consolidate services at the branch to further cut costs, including Active Directory, DNS/DHCP, Media Streaming and Print Services. When Windows Server 2008 R2 is released, it can be deployed on the RSP and the BranchCache feature is a service that enterprises can use on the deployed Windows Server.

"As enterprises move to Windows 7, they may find a place for BranchCache on the Steelhead appliance," said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president, Yankee Group. "It is apparent that Riverbed has been working with Microsoft on a broad vision and in-depth technology integration that will benefit their joint customers. This strategy positions Riverbed to continue to be a market and technology leader in the WAN optimization market."

"We've worked closely with Microsoft on technology integration through the POLP program and the integration of Windows Server on the RSP. Supporting Microsoft's latest innovations is a natural next step in our relationship," said John Martin, vice president of product management, Riverbed. "By working with Microsoft we've been able to expand on our core value to customers -- providing the best acceleration across the broadest set of applications. In branch office environments the combination of Riverbed and Microsoft will provide enterprises with a comprehensive, optimized IT environment."

The RSP is an extensible virtualized data services platform that allows customers to deploy best-of-breed edge services that formerly required dedicated servers as virtual appliances. Customers can deploy these virtual appliances directly on Steelhead products to further minimize the hardware infrastructure footprint at the branch office, which reduces costs in operational overhead.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the expected demand for Riverbed's products and services, statements relating to future functionality of the Riverbed Services Platform, and statements relating to Riverbed's ability to meet the needs of distributed organizations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they do not fully materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate; our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs; the adoption rate of our products; our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our distribution partners; our ability to compete in our industry; fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services; shortages or price fluctuations in our supply chain; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights; general political, economic and market conditions and events; and other risks and uncertainties described more fully in our documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. More information about these and other risks that may impact Riverbed's business are set forth in our Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on April 30, 2009. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Any future product, feature or related specification that may be referenced in this release are for information purposes only and are not commitments to deliver any technology or enhancement. Riverbed reserves the right to modify future product plans at any time.