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Apparent Networks Unveils AppCritical™ Version 3.3 for Real-Time Network Application Performance

Major upgrade continues to address demanding requirements of large enterprises and MSPs; Includes new features and enhancements in information management, deployment and reporting.

BOSTON, MA and VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 14, 2008 – Apparent Networks, Inc. today announced the availability of Version 3.3 of its flagship AppCritical solution for network application performance.  The new version builds on the unique capability of the AppCritical solution to perform remote, real-time monitoring and analysis of network capacity, availability and performance and their direct impact on application quality-of-service.  New features include information management capabilities, such as real-time data navigation, that enable customers to proactively address infrastructure issues before they impact network performance.  Also included in Version 3.3 are features that ease deployment and improve management reporting.  

AppCritical Version 3.3 provides unmatched visibility into, and context for, activity within large, complex and highly distributed networks.  Unlike the traditional, device-centric method of assessing network events, the AppCritical solution provides meaningful and actionable information not only to network operations staff, but also to business line managers whose success is directly tied to network performance.  It lets all stakeholders move beyond reactive and defensive responses to more positive and proactive approaches that promote increased cross-functional collaboration and productivity.

“With the Total Managed Conferencing Services we provide to our government and enterprise customers, reliability and high performance is a must.  There is no room for errors,” said Bin Guan, CTO of York Telecom Corporation, a New Jersey-based provider of global visual communications solutions.  “With AppCritical, we can quickly and more proactively answer the most pressing question of whether an issue lies within the network or the application.  Unlike traditional reactive tools, the AppCritical solution enables us to monitor our services, end-to-end, across not only our own network, but also externally provisioned network segments in real time.  This enables us to proactively address any network issues to not only prevent service impact to optimize performance and ensure high-quality user experiences, but also avoid the imputation of blame between the application providers and network providers.”

"Application flow management is no longer a behind-the-scenes issue best left to isolated technology professionals,” said Dennis Drogseth, Vice President of Enterprise Management Associates.  “With today’s complex, converged networks, it’s a center-stage operational challenge that demands executive-level attention.  Over the next several years, distinct competitive advantages will go to organizations that take new approaches to assimilating and integrating application flow management as a unifying resource for managing business services.  Solutions like AppCritical provide the clarity and visibility into network and application activity that can help both IT and business managers optimize to competitive business impact with real contextual insight.”

Major New Features in AppCritical Version 3.3

Easier and More Effective Deployment

• New automated installation capabilities that assess intended host servers to ensure that they have the compute power and system requirements needed to run the solution; these utilities also enable AppCritical to run automatically after install or addition.
• Selective path analysis – allows users to prioritize or focus the system by turning analysis on or off for individual network paths without disabling a whole group; includes options for permanently disabling or automatically re-enabling specific path analyses.
• Rule-based notification engine – allows administrators to define notification and escalation procedures so that just the right alerts go to just the right people under only the correct circumstances.  This eliminates information overload and keeps nuisance alerts from propagating into fault and event management platforms.  The notification engine in the AppCritical solution complements other network management products in the customer’s infrastructure, providing more accurate alerting that eases information overload. It also provides notification and event histories.

Improved Information Management, Reporting and Auditing Capabilities

• Optimized data retention and storage – Users can capture and store real-time data in both raw and summarized forms; enables users to:
• View performance data on any timescale: hourly, daily, etc. for faster evaluation
• Continuously assess how well they are adhering to performance-based SLAs
• View historic network performance with easy-to-understand graphs and charts
• Generate customized, real-time performance data roll-ups and summarizations
• Enhanced data navigation – provides both current and historical views of performance data via quick links and scroll bars for easy access; makes it easy for users to navigate to items such as performance anomalies, SLA violations or specific dates or times.
• Expanded data importing and exporting – allows users to import and export data using industry-standard file formats such as XML, CSV and PDF, which enables easier and more effective report building and generation. 
• New audit log capabilities – enable fast and easy capture of key system activity; includes automatic collection of data for regulatory and licensing compliance, service level adherence and other management reporting needs. 

“With the release of AppCritical 3.3 we have further extended our technology lead to provide our customers with the least invasive, easiest to use, and most comprehensive network management solution for the full end–to–end application path, including segments that depend on external service providers,” said Jack Sweeney, CEO of Apparent Networks. “Our solution ensures that our customers are able to make their customers and end-users successful.” 

AppCritical 3.3 is now available directly from Apparent Networks and through its reseller partner channel.

About Apparent Networks
Apparent Networks, Inc. develops and markets software that provides a unique approach to improving application performance by measuring and diagnosing live converged networks as part of pre-deployment assessment, troubleshooting and continuous real-time monitoring. The AppCritical solution provides awareness of the most critical network characteristics needed by voice, video and data applications. It has been successfully deployed by large enterprises, managed service providers and tier-one technology vendors to assure end-user quality of experience. Customers include ACS, the Boeing Company, Nortel, Polycom, Toshiba, 3Com, Fujitsu, Siemens, IBM, Symantec, Bell, HP, Network Appliance, TELUS, and Electronic Arts. For more information, visit www.apparentnetworks.com.

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Media Contact:
Todd Van Hoosear
Topaz Partners
tvanhoosear@topazpartners.com
(781) 404-2409

Company Contact:
John Riley
Director, Product Marketing
Apparent Networks
(781) 235-2470

AppCritical Brochure [pdf]