Blue Coat Systems has announced a new version of Blue Coat IntelligenceCenter software and a new software release for its Blue Coat PacketShaper appliances to extend the application visibility and control inherent in its solutions for Application Delivery Networks.
“The starting point for ensuring effective application response time and gaining control of enterprise networks is having visibility into what applications are running on the network and understanding how they are performing at any given location for any given user,” said Carrie Oakes, vice president of product marketing, Blue Coat Systems. “The Application Delivery Network enables enterprises to ensure IT processes and applications are on pace with the speed of business.”
The Blue Coat IntelligenceCenter application monitoring product now provides a real-time Application Performance Dashboard that shows enterprise application performance at any location for distributed users. It enables organizations to set and track Service Level Agreements (SLA) for business-critical applications in real-time. If application response time falls below an acceptable level, an administrator can use PacketShaper appliances to reassign bandwidth and set prioritization levels while Blue Coat® ProxySG® appliances apply other acceleration techniques to speed delivery. The Application Performance Dashboard can show how applications are utilized throughout the enterprise and can help with network and application troubleshooting and serve as an important tool for ongoing resource planning.
The new PacketShaper software enables enterprises to define specific custom or customized applications running on the network, adding to the more than 600 off-the-shelf applications already recognized. The ability to identify custom applications enables administrators to monitor the performance of those applications and to optimize response time through prioritization and other acceleration technologies. Many enterprises have several business-critical applications that have been developed internally, and others have customized commercially available software applications to meet their specific needs. Custom and customized applications are often those that are the most important to the critical business processes of an enterprise or organization.
The Application Performance Dashboard is included in version 2.1 of the IntelligenceCenter solution and will be available later this month. It will be a free upgrade for customers who currently have the IntelligenceCenter product and an active support contract. The IntelligenceCenter software installs on a dedicated server and works with PacketShaper appliances distributed throughout the enterprise.
