nGenius Analytics 1.2 Enables Network Managers to Stop Problems Before They Impact Business, Meet Mean Time to Restore MBOs
WESTFORD, Mass. and LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22,
2007--NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT), the industry pacesetter
for advanced network and service assurance solutions, today announced
from the show floor of Interop Las Vegas 2007 the availability of
nGenius(R) Analytics Version 1.2. With this release, nGenius Analytics
now includes features designed to proactively monitor VoIP quality
metrics, increases in the volume of previously "unknown" traffic,
application response time increases, and application utilization
decreases - all critical aspects to assuring services and reducing
Mean Time to Restore (MTTR) on today's converged networks.
The announcement comes at a time when pressure is mounting in the
data center: according to NetScout's annual customer survey, companies
are getting serious about shrinking MTTR by setting MTTR goals for the
network team and reinforcing them with management by objectives (MBO)
directives. In slightly more than a year's time, the survey data shows
a nearly fourfold increase in the percentage of customers reporting
they have an MBO directive on MTTR--from 6.3 percent in 2006 to 23
percent in 2007. At the same time, these network managers report they
are still dependent on the angry end-user call to kick off the problem
identification and resolution process: three-quarters of IT managers
said a primary source of performance problem information is the
irritated end-user who calls the help desk (see related announcement
issued today: "Survey Reveals Users of Sophisticated Network
Monitoring Tools Diagnose Network Performance Problems 69 Percent
Faster").
"Today, network teams are being measured and compensated based on
the speed with which they restore services. Tomorrow, they can expect
to be held accountable for averting problems before services are
impacted," said Michael Szabados, COO of NetScout. "Our customers
clearly need to know of impending issues before the irritated end-user
call comes in. nGenius Analytics gives the network team highly
qualified alarms to meet these new requirements, so that early
diagnostic efforts are focused, fruitful and fast."
"KPI to Flow to Packet": NetScout's Unique Approach
nGenius Analytics is an integral piece of NetScout's unique "KPI
(Key Performance Indicator) to Flow to Packet" approach, designed to
enable proactive network management: it gives network managers highly
qualified early warnings based on once-indiscernible anomalies and
then allows them to seamlessly and contextually "drill down" as far as
required--into application and conversation flow details or even into
the packet sequences themselves--until the problem is diagnosed.
Benefits new to nGenius Analytics 1.2 include:
- Early warnings to potential VoIP degradations. nGenius
Analytics 1.2 analyzes VoIP quality metrics by passively
monitoring jitter. For organizations deploying VoIP
applications, nGenius Analytics will be a crucial element in
the assurance of call quality, as dropped or choppy calls are
unacceptable. For instance, hospitals whose doctors depend on
VoIP phones for consulting one another on critical patient
care issues cannot have calls interrupted by other urgent
applications, such as Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and
Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS).
- Early warnings on application response time increases and
application utilization decreases. A NetScout customer in the
credit card processing industry was keenly interested in
receiving early warnings of application utilization decreases
as well as application response time increases. The company
handles one million transactions per day and earns a percent
of the dollar value of each transaction. The bottom line takes
a hit if credit card transactions fail to be processed, either
because the application is slow (application response time
increase) or if fewer transactions are being fully processed
(application utilization decreases). With nGenius Analytics
1.2 this company will be able to prevent both types of
problems by getting intelligent early warnings.
- Alarming on the "Unknown". One of the key challenges for
network operators is keeping up with recognizing all of the
applications that are active in a large, distributed
environment. nGenius Analytics 1.2 adds new functionality for
alarming on increases in the volume of previously undefined,
or "unknown" traffic. Working with nGenius(R) Performance
Manager 4.1, operators can quickly drill into the unknown
traffic mix to pinpoint its constituents.
- Immediate anomaly discovery. nGenius Analytics 1.2 is fully
integrated with and seeded by nGenius Performance Manager 4.1,
so nGenius System users will recognize anomalies as soon as
they turn up the system. Since the system studies normal
network behavior and only reports anomalies, network teams
using nGenius Analytics indicate they receive only a fraction
of the alarms they once received, all highly qualified.
"While traditional threshold-based performance alarms do offer
value, the sheer administrative burden associated with deploying them
in organizations of any appreciable size has prevented them from
playing much more than a reactive role in most IT shops," said
well-known industry analyst Jim Metzler. "Newer analytics technologies
such as NetScout's nGenius Analytics change the balance toward the
proactive by providing the ability to automatically detect abnormal
network and application behavior and then provide an intelligent alarm
that includes detailed data to kick-start the diagnostic process. This
could mean a real tide change for IT organizations that are striving
to adopt a more service-oriented approach in supporting the business."
For more information on best practices for network and application
performance monitoring, please attend the "Managing and Controlling
Application Performance" panel discussion at Interop Las Vegas on
Wednesday, May 23 at 10:15 a.m. Jim Frey, NetScout's vice president of
marketing, will be among the panelists.
Pricing and Availability
NetScout nGenius Analytics Version 1.2 is available now, with
enterprise pricing starting at $50,000 USD.
About NetScout Systems
NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT) has been the industry
pacesetter for advanced network and service assurance solutions for
over a decade, and counts the world's largest enterprises, government
agencies, and service providers among its customers. Enterprise and
government IT organizations deploy NetScout's nGenius(R) Performance
Management System to increase service levels to their users by
reducing or preventing service disruptions. Service providers depend
on NetScout's proven IP performance management technology and
expertise to protect the quality of their customers' experience with
IP-based services. NetScout is headquartered in Westford,
Massachusetts and has offices worldwide. Further information is
available at http://www.netscout.com.
(C)2007 NetScout Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. NetScout and
the NetScout logo, nGenius, and Quantiva are registered trademarks of
NetScout Systems, Inc. The CDM logo, MasterCare, the MasterCare logo
and Progressive Analytics 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.
CONTACT: NetScout Systems, Inc.
Christine Johansen, 978-614-4113
johansenc@netscout.com
or
Davies Murphy Group, Inc.
Brian Alberti, 781-418-2403
netscout@daviesmurphy.com
SOURCE: NetScout Systems, Inc.