WAN optimization and the closely related technology of application acceleration have become essential tools as organizations spread employees and computing needs over widely diverse geographies. Value-added resellers (VARs) and systems integrators are wise to incorporate these products as they design customer solutions, but they must investigate products and technology carefully before choosing among vendor offerings.
Deep technical knowledge required
WAN optimization products cannot be simply put in place and expected to operate at maximum efficiency. They must be configured based on the client's throughput and latency requirements, number of users, mix of applications and WAN characteristics. To configure optimally, your staff must understand both the technologies used by your clients' applications and the techniques employed by optimization products.
Due to the complexity of these products, vendors and channel partners often develop close relationships; working together to design solutions and configure products for maximum customer success.
One size does not fit all
WAN optimization products are not interchangeable. No one technique is capable of optimizing all network protocols and applications, and vendors concentrate on a subset of the market.
Before developing a relationship with a vendor, match the vendor's area of emphasis with your area of specialization. You'll need to devote a significant amount of time to train your staff, so unless you have the resources to train on a wide variety of products, you'll need to choose carefully.
Vendors such as Certeon, Packeteer, Riverbed Technologies, Silver Peak Systems and Stampede Technologies focus solely on WAN optimization and application acceleration. Large vendors
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including Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks and F5 Networks also incorporate optimization features in their products.
Choose vendor partner based on your market
Varying network types and applications require different solutions. Vendors have developed optimization products for the protocols and applications listed below. Each vendor specializes in one or a group of applications, but may include some coverage for applications outside its area of specialization. Identify the predominant technologies in use by your clients and then review vendor offerings to determine which vendors concentrate on your clients' critical applications.
Choose vendor partners carefully
Study vendor offerings before choosing to establish relationships, but also consider vendor stability. Most of the small vendors listed above were founded within the past few years. While new vendors are appearing, others will undoubtedly disappear. Some will not survive as the market matures.
Plan to require an analysis of your customer's environment before recommending solutions. Customer environments often include a variety of applications using different network protocols. The best approach to overall optimization is often not obvious.
Despite the complexity of the technology and effort required to sell and deploy them, these products have become a necessity in many networks. VARs and integrators must allocate the resources and accept the risks to continue as suppliers and partners to their clients.
About the author
David B. Jacobs of The Jacobs Group has more than twenty years of networking industry experience. He has managed leading-edge software development projects and consulted to Fortune 500 companies as well as software start-ups.
