Get a better grip on your network architecture

IT managers can get a holistic view of the interaction between network resources and application performance using Cisco’s new Network Application Performance Analysis (NAPA) suite of network management products and customer support services. The company says it’s aimed at helping large companies to optimise their networks to improve delivery of business critical applications. Users are better able to react quickly to high-priority performance problems while proactively planning for changing network requirements. It’s all about providing new levels of visibility into networks in the context of what matters – business applications running. Benefits include being able to predict the performance impact of new applications and network services on existing infrastructures. It’s thus also good for reducing risk prior to application or network services deployment, while enabling faster network performance optimisation by identifying trends and configuration issues early. “IT operations managers and network managers need to be better aligned as they migrate to a more service-oriented architecture,” says Zeus Kerravala, vice president at analyst Yankee Group. “NAPA integrates products and services into a single intelligent solution helps customers better communicate within the IT organisation. They can troubleshoot more quickly and plan better for future issues.”