The Performance Zone

Phone Bill Forensics not good enough to support DHS Initiatives at the State & Local level

Submitted by Heidi Gabrielson, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

NetScout has just kicked off a program aimed at helping state and local government agencies meet the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) objectives “to help prevent or minimize the impact of terrorist activities and to aid in first responder efforts to reduce recovery time”. Of course, being in the network performance management space, the manner in which we can help is to ensure agency networks run at peak efficiency, especially during times of crisis. After all, the network plays a crucial role in achieving the DHS goals of good data sharing between agencies and quick access to emergency information.

Active Hurricane Season Focuses Attention on Planning for the Unexpected

Submitted by Heidi Gabrielson, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

This is a decade marked by catastrophic natural disasters – ferocious hurricanes (Katrina, Rita and most recently, Gustav and Ike), the deadliest US tornado season in a decade, mega earthquakes in China and other parts of Asia, widespread flooding all over the world and even a devastating tsunami.

In addition, it has also been a time where we have seen significant manmade disruptions, including a variety of power interruptions – from rolling brown outs on the West Coast to a multi-day power outage that hit the Northeast and Canada – broad-scale internet outages, cyber attacks and even terrorist activities. As such, government and business planners worldwide are placing new emphasis on planning for the unexpected.

VoIP- The Passing of an Age?

Submitted by Michael Valladao, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

This week I attended the 18th Internet Telephony Conference and EXPO at the Los Angeles Convention Center.   This conference, often referred to IT EXPO-West is one of the premiere telephony events and has drawn huge crowds over the years.

But like the telephony industry it represents, IT Expo has undergone a major metamorphosis.  No longer is the emphasis on VoIP installations and justifications to replace old telephone networks.  As I walked the trade show floor and attended conference sessions, I observed that this year the conference focused more on Unified Communications, SIP Trunking, Call Centers, and Presence.  And I couldn't help but notice the crowds were down and fewer attendees tended to be from the United States.  We also saw more attention on the integration of existing applications than on new development.

A Better Picture is Worth a Billion Dollars

Submitted by Adam Reeves, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

We’ve all heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In the case of United Airlines investors earlier this month it could have been, “a better picture is worth a billion dollars.”

On Sept 8, United Airlines stock temporarily lost more than 75% of its value as it dropped from around $12/share to around $3 after an article on its 2002 bankruptcy was distributed as new news after a mistake made by some combination of Google, the South Florida Sun Sentinel newspaper, Income Security Advisors, and Bloomberg. The event has been widely reported, but in case you haven’t read about it here’s a New York Times article - Ultimately, the stock rebounded and ended the day having regained a large portion of its loss.

Interop New York Organizers Tap NetScout Experts for Two Sessions

Submitted by Brian Robertson, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

Interop New York Organizers Tap NetScout Experts for Two Sessions
Insights Shared to Help Attendees Keep Pace with the Evolution of the Modern IP Network

WESTFORD, Mass. – September 15, 2008—NetScout Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTCT), the industry leader in advanced network and application performance management, today announced that the company has been invited to participate on two panel discussions at this week’s Interop New York 2008, where attendees will be exploring some of the crucial techniques that IT organizations must use to better manage and control network performance. 

NetScout representatives also will be available in booth 753 throughout Interop NY, which is being held at the Javits Center.  The event is the leading global business technology event and offers an unparalleled view into cutting edge innovations and solutions in the industry.  Interop NY provides business and IT professionals the chance to exchange thoughts on provoking new technologies and address critical issues facing the industry today.

Taking the Focus off of FCC Reporting, Putting it on the Customer

Submitted by Adam Reeves, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

The FCC is allowing telephone operators to stop filing yearly reports on service quality and customer satisfaction as part of their ARMIS (Automated Reporting Management Information System) filings that had been mandated in 1987. I had originally read about the issue at wsj.com (– sorry it’s pay to read the entire article) and saw that in fact, on Friday, the FCC had issued a 57 page document announcing the change (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-203A1.doc).

NetScout's Own Eileen Haggerty is a Guest Blogger on Xchange

Submitted by Brian Robertson, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

Recently Eileen Haggerty was invited as a guest blogger on www.xchangemag.com due to her recent post here on www.netscoutblog.com titled "Is the 3G iPhone still what's hot?".

This particular contribution expands on the impact of 3G technology in terms of new ways in which it is opening the doors to disseminate information and what can happen if the proper tools aren't in place to ensure reliability.

With examples of authenticating servers not being able to activate new iPhone accounts, and the new ways that presidential hopefuls are campaigning you don't want to miss the posting, find it here on xchangemag.com.

Web 2.0 encouraging communication service providers to be more open with us.

Submitted by Adam Reeves, NetScout Product Marketing Manager

I was writing a while back about how the success of femtocells may drive new applications and business models for mobile service providers (LINK TO PREVIOUS ENTRY). It reminded me of another webinar I watched a while back on web 2.0 and its impact on the service provider community. The webinar was presented by Lightreading (www.lightreading.com) can be found here – (you will need to register to watch the webinar).

I came away from the webinar believing that as the information economy becomes more open, that communication service providers (CSPs) are going to have to a) continue opening up their networks, enabling services, and even customer-facing services to 3^rd parties that are creating new applications, b) use this openeness and access to generate new revenue (even using new revenue models), and c) since they’ll be generating revenues on the applications be able to guarantee the performance of their services and their underlying components.