Briefing

NetScout
Briefings

Additional Materials at NetScout's own White Paper and Success Story Libraries

New! Is Telepresence the Killer Application or Merely a Network Killer?

An IT Impact Brief

Videoconferencing and telepresence are powerful collaboration tools, but they also consume so much bandwidth that it is also reasonable to refer to them as network killers.

Published 07-08

New! Distinguishing Business Use of the Network from Recreational Use

NetScout

As organizations become increasingly dependent on the network to meet business and operational goals, they look towards the IT professional to ensure that applications are available. These complex and sophisticated services perform key functions and require rapid response time to maintain competitiveness and properly serve the end user. With this growing dependence on the network, it is vital that network operators ensure these applications are not disturbed by recreational network use.

The Rapid Pace of Management Process Change

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief discusses the approach that IT organizations are taking to troubleshoot and quantify the use of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) to improve troubleshooting processes as well as a wide range of management tasks.

Published 03-08

Developing a Plan for Gathering Management Data

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief is the first in a set of four briefs. This one will focus on the need for packet flow data and the three subsequent briefs will focus on instrumentation, processes, and products.

Published 02-08

2008 Network Performance Management Buyer's Guide

A Summary of Best Practices for Optimizing Your Networks and Applications

NetScout

Networks have matured into a vital business resource, serving as the foundation for corporate communications, organizational processes, and strategic competitive initiatives. A solid and innovative network and application performance management solution is required to optimize delivery of key business applications through the complex, multiple layers of network technologies, and to effectively manage IT expenditures and headcount.

The Mandate for Packet Flow Data

An IT Impact Brief

This brief focuses on the need for packet flow data, and the three subsequent briefs will focus on instrumentation, processes, and products.

Published 01-08

Surviving the IT Transformation

Critical Strategies Every Network Manager Needs

Jim Metzler on behalf of NetScout

This white paper examines the changing landscape of network and application management and the impact of the new tools and information sources that are available to you, and suggests some steps you can take to keep your career going strong.

Where's the Heat in Your Network?

An IT Impact Brief

Survey results that identify which network technologies are hot and which ones are cold? Which issues keep you up at night and which ones get you out of bed?

Published 12-07

The Mandate to Integrate Operations

	An IT Impact Brief
	How the application development and application delivery teams can work together to ensure application availability.
	Published 11-07

The Value of Performance Management

	An IT Impact Brief
	Results of a NetScout Community survey on demonstrating the value of network performance management. Plus, an interview with the Director of IT Services of a large nationwide insurance company and his organization approaches network performance management.
	Published 10-07

A Unique Approach to Reducing MTTR

	Following the KPI-to-Flow-to-Packet process cuts troubleshooting time
	Today’s enterprise networks carry time-sensitive financial transactions, life-saving patient records, and valuable manufacturing orders. Network outages or application degradations often result in financial loss, delays in treatments, or customer dissatisfaction. Many global 1000 manufacturing, banking, insurance, retail, energy, and healthcare organizations have turned to NetScout to help reduce the mean time to repair or restore network services across their enterprise.
	NetScout
	Note: Sponsor Spotlight

Demonstrating the Value of Performance Management

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief highlights the four guidelines for measuring the ROI of network and application performance management as presented at the NetScout User Forum Conference.

Published 09-07

The Port 80 Black Hole

An IT Impact Brief

A lot of traffic runs undetected over port 80 - sometimes referred to as the blind spot. Jim discusses the risk associated with not being able to manage this traffic, which could be considered the "port 80 black hole" in your network.

Published 08-07

Response Time Analysis for Networked Applications

Quality of Experience: A critical component of Performance Management

The response time of networked applications is a key performance metric needed to ensure service levels, detect and prevent performance degradation, and troubleshoot application performance problems when they do occur.

NetScout

Note: Sponsor Spotlight

Monitoring Real-Time Trading Networks with the nGenius Solution

Detecting and troubleshooting microbursts, latency and out-of-sequence packets for latency-sensitive market data and trade/exchange applications and protocols.

NetScout

Note: Sponsor Spotlight

Optimizing Performance of Latency-Sensitive Market Trading/Exchange Applications

Identifying and analyzing response time, delay and sequence gaps to ensure application availability

NetScout

Note: Sponsor Spotlight

The Hows and the Whys of Quality of Service

An IT Impact Brief

Identifies the current and planned deployment of QoS, the decision-making process, and the implementation and ongoing auditing and management issues of QoS functionality.

Published 07-07

Does IT Provide Business Value?

An IT Impact Brief

The goal of this IT Impact Brief is to analyze the current perception of the IT organization: Does IT offer business value or not?

Published 06-07

Rethinking MTTR

An IT Impact Brief

The goal of this brief is to describe how those steps apply to a traditional network management task, such as fault management, and to contrast that with how those steps apply to managing application performance.

Published 04-07

Showing The Value of Network Management

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief will discuss the value of network management and will explain the relevance of the preceding story. This brief will also discuss the dynamics of the relationship between the typical application development organization and the network organization.

Published 03-07

Management and Application Delivery

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief will summarize some of the key components of the relationship between management and application delivery.

Published 02-07

The Road to Successful Application Delivery

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief will provide a brief summary of some of the key issues discussed in The Handbook of Application Delivery.

Published 01-07

Top 10 Issues & Events Affecting Networks in 2006

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses the ten issues and events that had the biggest impact on networking in 2006.

Published 12-06

WAN Vicious Applications

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses how successful application delivery requires that IT organizations are able to identify the applications that are running on the network and are also able to ensure the acceptable performance of the applications that are relevant to the business, while controlling or eliminating applications that are not relevant.

Published 11-06

The Movement to Implement ITIL

An IT Impact Brief

This IT Impact Brief will detail the movement on the part of many IT organizations to use ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) to assist with the redesign of key IT processes.

Published 10-06

Breaking the Cycle: Eliminating Static Thresholds and Reducing False Positive Alerts Per Day

NetScout

Business Process Redesign

	An IT Impact Brief
	Over the next few years the movement to Web services-based applications will provide organizations with much more ability to rapidly change their business processes. Hence, while today's mantra is "It's the Application Stupid," tomorrow's mantra is likely to be "It's the Business Process Stupid." When that happens, the challenge facing infrastructure professionals will be to demonstrate the value that the infrastructure brings to the company's key business processes.
	Published 09-06

Network Misuse Revisited

	An IT Impact Brief
	Jim Metzler discusses how reducing network misuse will optimize bandwidth. Based on a recent survey of NetScout customers, find out how IT organizations are dealing with the issue of network misuse.
	Published 08-06

NetFlow and nGenius^® Performance Manager - A Powerful Combination

NetScout

The nGenius^® Solution Helps Improve the Performance of Business Services with NetFlow and Application Monitoring

NetScout

The nGenius^® Flow Recorder helps Oslo Børs Network Supports Billions in Transactions Per Day

NetScout

Moving Past Static Performance Alarms

	nGenius Analytics Product Review
	An IT Impact Brief
	Jim Metzler reviews nGenius Analytics. Find out how to close the gap between network and application performance alarms and what is required to proactively manage a network and the applications that transit the network.
	Published 07-06

Analyzing the Conventional Wisdom of Network Management Industry Trends

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses industry trends, including feedback from IT Managers about: server consolidation; ITIL; innovation in network management; Service Level Management (SLM); strategic initiatives; perceived value of IT and network management; business process redesign; and managing application performance.

Published 06-06

The Cost and Management Challenges of MPLS Services

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses the characteristics of the MPLS services that are currently available in the marketplace and analyzes both the cost and the management challenges that are associated with deploying these services.

Published 05-06

RRAPPing Up Better Performance

	Achieving Real Cost Savings and Business Effectiveness with Rapid Repair of Application Performance Problems
	Robert Frances Group for NetScout
	Note: Sponsor Spotlight

NetScout nGenius Analytics

	Increase IT Operational Efficiency
	Enterprise Management Associates for NetScout
	Note: Sponsor Spotlight

Performance Management in the Virtualization Age

NetScout

The Movement to Deploy MPLS

An IT Impact Brief

Survey respondents indicate that MPLS deployment will have some or significant impact on IT projects. Find out what motivates IT to deploy MPLS.

Published 04-06

Managing VoIP Deployments

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses the impact of VoIP deployments and network performance management.

Published 03-06

Network and Application Performance Alarms: What's Really Going On

An IT Impact Brief

How companies deploy and respond to network and application performance alarms based on survey results. Brief includes interviews with an IT Project Leader of a transportation company and an IT Team Leader of a medical company.

Published 02-06

NetFlow - Gaining Application Awareness

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses how to leverage NetFlow data to report bandwidth usage by network users and applications to optimize application and network performance management.

Published 01-06

Voice Over IP (VoIP) Implementation Guide for Network Performance Management

NetScout

The Big Picture in High Definition

Application Visualization for Enterprise Network Performance Management

NetScout

Ten New Year's Resolutions

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler's Top 10 Network Management New Year's Resolutions

Published 12-05

Management Issues in a Web Services Environment

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses IT Management Issues in a Web Services Environment

Published 11-05

The Movement to Deploy Web Services

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses what is motivating so many companies to adopt web services and Service Oriented Architecture.

Published 10-05

Evaluating the need for upgrades in Campus LANs

Long-adopted WAN bandwidth optimization finds its way to the core

NetScout

Redefining Performance Management to Match Today’s Business Model

NetScout

Note: Sponsor Spotlight

The Rapidly Evolving Data Center

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses the important points to consider for data center consolidation.

Published 09-05

Business Value of Performance

	The NetScout Experience
	Peter Sevcik and Rebecca Wetzel, NetForecast
	Note: Sponsor Spotlight

What's Driving IT?

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses survey results on the projects having the most impact on IT.

Published 08-05

The Lack of Alignment in IT

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler focuses on the degree to which IT organizations plan and manage the IT function across all IT disciplines.

Published 07-05

It's The Application, Stupid

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses how identifying and managing the performance of an enterprise's key applications has become critical to the IT organization.

Published 06-05

Identifying Network Misuse

An IT Impact Brief

Jim Metzler discusses creative network misuses and why complete traffic visibility is essential to protect business critical apps.

Published 05-05

Optimizing Voice and Data Performance for Avaya IP Telephony

NetScout

Managing the Performance of Critical Applications: IP Multicast

NetScout

Voice Convergence Is Coming - Will Your Network be Able to Cope?

NetScout

Mapping NetScout's nGenius® Performance Manager to ITIL Processes

Enterprise Management Associates for NetScout

Unified Performance Management for Cisco Intelligent Infrastructure

NetScout

Monitoring Mission Critical Encrypted Networks with the nGenius® Solution

NetScout

NetFlow and the nGenius® Performance Manager

NetScout

Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and the nGenius® Solution

NetScout

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