MARLBORO, MA -- September 14, 1998 -- Concord Communications., Inc. (NASDAQ: CCRD), the leader in Web-based network performance reporting and analysis solutions, today announced that it is working with Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) to easily and more accurately measure end-to-end latency with data from Cisco routers. Concord's award-winning Network Health. reports will now use "PING" technology found in Cisco routers to provide the most accurate, comprehensive measure of latency and network services across carrier and large enterprise networks. Using Concord's Network Health, service providers and network managers can, for the first time, easily diagnose the delays users experience by measuring end-to-end latency using data from routers in a Cisco environment.
"Until now, diagnosing network slow-downs from a user's perspective was a matter of guesswork, because it was difficult to know whether delays were caused by the network, an application on the user's PC or the Internet connection," said Kevin Conklin, vice president of marketing at Concord Communications. "By continuously reporting on latency anywhere on the network, Network Health pinpoints delays before user performance is affected. This partnership brings IT professionals closer to the 'holy grail' of determining end-to-end response time and continues Concord's efforts to expand Network Health's scope to report on more devices and applications, in more ways, than any other product."
In the past, network managers typically measured latency by "PINGing" a router from a central management server. However, this approach was limited because it didn't measure latency from the router closest to the user's desktop to a destination like an application server. The additional server was also another device that service providers needed to install and manage. By using the built-in "PING" technology in Cisco routers, Network Health now allows network managers to "PING" across the same network paths the user traverses on a regular basis to more accurately measure latency. Network Health then generates reports that give network managers a clearer understanding of what the end user is experiencing and if contracted service levels are being met by ISPs and other service providers. Similarly, ISPs and carriers use Network Health's award-winning reporting features to document and resolve performance problems to ensure uninterrupted service.
"Our customers need to measure the latency of all WAN services-from the network and backbone to the application server. By combining Cisco's "PING" technology with Concord's Network Health reports, customers can accurately measure latency to better manage and document service levels," said Herb Madan, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Network and Services Management Business Unit. "This clearly identifies if the network is the cause of the delay and provides the most complete view of network performance."
About Network Health
The Network Health family of analysis and reporting solutions includes LAN/WAN, Frame Relay, Router/Switch, Server, Traffic Accountant and Service Level Reports modules. This award-winning family of solutions shares the same underlying database and acclaimed presentation formats to provide a consistent and fully correlated "total view" of the entire IT infrastructure. The combined suite of Network Health products offers a complete solution, or an incremental migration path for performance analysis and streamlined reporting of an organization's entire client/server infrastructure-from servers to the backbone and wide-area connections.About Concord Communications
Concord Communications, Inc., (NASDAQ: CCRD) is the leading developer of Web-based network reporting and analysis solutions that provide customers with the information they need to measure the effectiveness of their IT investment. The premier service providers, ISPs and Fortune 1000 companies turn to Concord each morning to assess the health of their corporate networks. Concord is headquartered in Marlboro, Massachusetts.Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. at http://www.cisco.com.For more information visit Cisco PR Contacts
Concord, the Concord logo and Network Health are registered trademarks of Concord Communications, Inc.
Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Systems and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
