Cloud computing has become an important new tool for IT managers in controlling the cost and complexity of business-critical applications and data. Cloud computing is compelling to enterprises because it allows them to consolidate resources, provision services more quickly, and even rationalize costs more effectively with new business models.

Riverbed can provide a complete WAN optimization solution to accelerate cloud services and add a layer of intelligence to ensure that consolidated, virtualized applications and services are accessed by end-users everywhere in a way that enables them to be productive, while helping to deliver the expected cost and management efficiencies.

Whether an enterprise develops a private cloud service, uses a public cloud service, or (more likely) decides to use some combination of both, WAN optimization enables organizations to attain the cost, scale, and manageability benefits of cloud offerings while gaining the performance levels and visibility needed for a productive workforce. With WAN optimization solutions from Riverbed, customers can:

• Accelerate access to private and public cloud infrastructure
• Accelerate the movement of virtualized machines and data to cloud
  data centers
• Significantly reduce the bandwidth needed to support branch offices and data centers
• Improve visibility into network utilization, application performance,
  and SLAs
• Minimise on-premise hardware at the branch by running a Virtual Steelhead appliance

Riverbed removes wide-area networking performance barriers, enabling the effective use of cloud services. Riverbed provides its market-leading WAN optimization technology through hardware appliances, software, and virtualized platforms. Riverbed enables customers to accelerate a broad range of applications to end users everywhere.

In certain environments where physical hardware can be a limitation, for instance in military environments that require ruggedized hardware, the Virtual Steelhead is a great solution that extends the benefits of virtualization to WAN optimization appliances. In other cases such as mobile construction trailers used by Architecture and Engineering companies (AEC), space can also be a limiting factor which makes it harder to deploy physical Steelhead appliances. In these environments as well, the Virtual Steelhead along with its ability to expand capacity on-demand can be a great option.

A lot of IT departments rely on virtualization to provide cost-savings and management benefits within the Data Center. These management savings also come from using standardized virtualization tools so that all IT infrastructure can be managed easily. With the Virtual Steelhead, WAN optimization benefits can also be controlled and managed using these same standard tools that IT staff are familiar with and trained for.

For more information, download the Cloud Services solution brief