Effectively bridging network management and analytics

I'm sure many IT managers will agree that network availability is an essential aspect of maintaining business productivity and continuity. They'll also agree that there are many challenges associated with maintaining a network in perfect health and keeping downtime at a minimum.

Depending on the size of the organisation in question, there are many network devices demanding management and tracking. There are also updates to perform, patches to implement and new applications to configure. And there are compliance requirements to address and more, says Martin May, regional director at Extreme Networks.

They are well aware that the costs of network downtime are high - around R10 000 per minute and rising, according to industry watchers. In fact, the US-based Ponemon Institute says downtime costs have risen by a staggering 41% since 2010.

Better management awareness when it comes to network performance parameters is a key factor in mitigating network downtime. It entails optimising the network for each and every application, enhancing security for these applications and providing data for business analytics,

This effectively transforms the corporate network into a strategic business asset that can now provide value to other lines of business. Moreover, it enables business innovation powered by the network infrastructure.

Network administrators looking to achieve these goals need look no further than a new network-powered application analytics and optimisation solution that has appeared on the market. It's the IT industry's first - and so far only - patent-pending solution designed to enable the mining of network-based business events and strategic information with a view to assist business leaders make faster and better decisions.

Dubbed Purview, from Extreme Networks, it operates from a centralised command and control centre that combines network management with business analytics on an unprecedented scale and scope.

Purview intelligence provides IT managers with the visibility and control of applications and Web sites (including related sub-Web sites) resident in all parts of the network, from the wired or wireless edge all the way through the core to the data centre, as well as application traffic from the enterprise to the private cloud, public cloud or any service on the Internet.

The notably deep level of insight provided by Purview is geared to support organisations in four ways: to improve the experience of connected users; enhance understanding of user engagement; optimise application performance; and protect against malicious or unapproved system use.

It does this by leveraging breakthrough technology to bridge the gaps between IT network management, security and business intelligence, at the same time providing a single, integrated view of its activities.

From a technical perspective, Purview is powered by patented CoreFlow2 ASIC technology which provides access to application usage information in flows traversing the network. The customisable Purview signature set supports more than 13 000 application fingerprints, more than 7 000 applications, including enterprise CRM, ERP, HCM, storage, Web, collaboration, e-mail, social networks and gaming.