SUPERCOMM: Verizon launches app assurance via SaaS

Chicago--Verizon Business, among other news, announced a new Application Assurance service at SUPERCOMM that puts performance monitoring tools in the hands of corporate enterprise customers--though via a software-as-a-service model. The SaaS approach means that the customers themselves will not have to buy, manage and maintain expensive new testing gear in order to get the benefits.

The service will be available in December, company officials told FierceTelecom. It leverages the Fluke Networks' Visual Performance Manager, which becomes the latest in a series of cloud-based tools being offered by Verizon Business. "Customers can access Application Assurance through our enterprise portal and look at live traffic, as well as measure traffic to make sure their applications are running smoothly," said Danellie Young, executive director of IP networking and managed solutions at Verizon Business.

Customers also can modify bandwidth on a dynamic basis if they need more bandwidth for something like a corporate video presentation, then throttle the bandwidth back down again later so that they won't continue to pay for more bandwidth than they need. At about $55 per site covered, the SaaS-based solution will cost an enterprise thousands less than they might otherwise spend on hardware to do the same job, Young said.

Though giving customers control over their own performance monitoring seems like the opposite of telco-managed services, Young added that Verizon sees the offerings as an entry into a broader array of managed services from Verizon. "We're giving them a chance to manage bandwidth themselves if that's what they want."

For more:
- Verizon has this press release [1]

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Verizon Business has a done a lot with cloud services this year
[2]AT&T this week announced a cloud storage service [3]
Verizon announced cloud back-up for enterprise PCs this month [4] 
[2]Verizon Business - Fran Shammo President - Top 10 BSPs [5] [2]