NETSCOUT Announces Comprehensive Solution for Managing Citrix Application Performance in Converged Networks

26 Jan 2004

End-Through-End Monitoring, Alarming and Response Time Reporting for Individual Citrix Traffic Flows Alleviate 'Flying Blind' After Deployment

WASHINGTON at COMNET, Booth #525, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NetScout Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTCT), a leading provider of enterprise-wide network and application performance management solutions, today announced a comprehensive solution for managing the performance of Citrix application deployments in converged networks. Available as new features within NetScout's nGenius(R) Performance Management System, the solution addresses the need for more complete management controls over the performance of Citrix traffic in complex network and application environments -- where diagnosis and validation of performance issues are obscured by lack of visibility.

Included in the solution are newly-added application response time measurement capabilities that allow IT managers to track, alarm and report on the responsiveness of individual Citrix traffic flows in the network. Unified with additional nGenius capabilities for monitoring and reporting Citrix bandwidth utilization and performing active agent tests, the solution alleviates IT's predicament of "flying blind" when it comes to post-deployment performance management.

    Using NetScout's solution, IT managers can:

    * Automatically monitor Citrix traffic flows in context with all of the
      other applications that are active network-wide to see how performance
      is impacted by network changes and load variations.
    * Monitor and report usage and responsiveness of Citrix applications by
      individual end users.
    * Distinguish between network, server and application performance faults.
      Isolate degradations to the network or application server to resolve
      response time problems in minutes, instead of hours.
    * Perform in-depth analysis of Citrix traffic with Web-based packet
      analysis.
    * Proactively alarm and pinpoint Citrix responsiveness issues anywhere in
      the network using a combination of passive and active response time
      measurements.

"As enterprises deploy business applications over Citrix, network managers need the ability to monitor Citrix traffic and measure end-user experience both before and after migrating to Citrix," said Debra Curtis, research director for Gartner. "After migration, proactive monitoring of end-user response time can help network managers detect potential service degradation, isolate the probable cause and mitigate performance issues for applications running over Citrix before they impact business operations."

Over 120,000 organizations worldwide use Citrix technology, including 92% of the Fortune Global 500. Its benefits in reducing the maintenance requirements of installing business applications on individual desktops make Citrix an attractive option for enterprises that must provide consistent IT services across multiple locations or geographies. However stable, Citrix- served applications in a shared network can be subject to network performance anomalies such as application bandwidth contention. Poorly-designed or bandwidth-hungry applications such as video conferencing can hamper the performance of Citrix flows, impacting critical business functions.

"Citrix can be deployed with greater long-term success by using the nGenius Solution to monitor and understand the influence of other types of applications on Citrix traffic in the converged network," said Michael Szabados, senior vice president of product operations for NetScout Systems. "As an application infrastructure becomes more complex and unpredictable, IT managers can assert better control over both Citrix and non-Citrix application responsiveness, using our solution."

The nGenius(R) Solution unifies network and application performance management for the converging enterprise. NetScout's flagship application, nGenius(R) Performance Manager, leverages the unified data made available through strategically-placed nGenius(R) Probes and NetScout's patent-pending CDM(TM) Technology to deliver consistent utilization, response time and availability metrics for application monitoring, network monitoring, capacity planning, troubleshooting, fault prevention and service level management -- all from a single, fully-integrated solution.

Pricing and Availability

The new Citrix application response time measurement capabilities are available in nGenius Performance Manager 2.0.1 and nGenius Probe Firmware 6.0.1 at no additional charge. Existing NetScout MasterCare customers can receive the new features for free by upgrading to these latest product versions. For additional product or ordering information about nGenius solutions, call NetScout Systems at 1-800-357-7666 or visit our Website http://www.netscout.com.

About NetScout Systems, Inc.

NetScout Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTCT) is a market leader and pioneer of integrated network performance management products that unify performance across the enterprise. NetScout's nGenius(R) Performance Management System is helping more than 3000 leading companies increase their return on infrastructure investments by optimizing the performance of networks and applications according to business priorities. NetScout is headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts and has offices worldwide. Further information is available at http://www.netscout.com.

NetScout and the NetScout logo, and nGenius are registered trademarks of NetScout Systems, Inc. CDM and the CDM logo, and MasterCare and the MasterCare logo, are trademarks of NetScout Systems, Inc. Other brands, product names and trademarks are property of their respective owners. NetScout reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to make changes at any time in its technical information and specifications, and service and support programs.

    For Further Information:
     Peggy Flynn                        Dawn Sullivan
     NetScout Systems                   Schwartz Communications, Inc.
     (978) 614-4162                     (781) 684-0770
     flynnp@netscout.com                netscout@schwartz-pr.com

SOURCE NetScout Systems, Inc.