Interop kicks off in less than a week, and WAN optimization and application acceleration technologies promise to be well represented at the flagship trade show for the networking industry. There's even a conference track devoted to application delivery that's designed to help IT teams identify what they need to do to ensure performance is acceptable.
If you’re headed for the Las Vegas event and application delivery is a priority, here are some sessions to check out:
Managing and controlling application performance
Tuesday, April 29
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
Led by analyst Jim Metzler of Ashton, Metzler & Associates, this session aims to describe some of the techniques IT organizations
can use to better manage and control application usage. The panelists come from management players including Xangati, NetScout
Systems and NetQoS
Optimizing the performance of enterprise applications
Tuesday, April 29
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
This session promises to describe the data flow of key enterprise applications from companies such as SAP and Oracle; identify
the performance roadblocks associated with those applications; and explain which optimization techniques are effective at
improving performance (and which ones are not). Gerry Coady, CIO of Frontier Airlines, joins speakers from F5 Networks, Juniper
Networks and Shunra. Jim Metzler is the moderator.
What SOA and Web 2.0 means to the network
Wednesday, April 30
10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
SOA and Web 2.0 “are in the early stages of influencing how applications are developed, and applications using either are
likely to run poorly and be difficult to manage,” according to show organizers. This session will detail management and performance
issues associated with SOA and Web 2.0, as well as address what IT pros can do to avoid them. Nagesh Anupindi, chief architect
and director of architecture at Xcel Energy, will share the stage with speakers from Gomez and Sonoa Systems, as well as moderator
Jim Metzler.
Branch office optimization
Wednesday, April 30
2:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
A question-and-answer format is planned to help IT executives distinguish among the many products and services available to
improve application performance over the WAN. Jim Metzler is moderating the panel, which includes representation from vendors
including Cisco, Citrix Systems, Ipanema, Packeteer and Riverbed Technology.
Breaking down the technology and organizational silos
Thursday, May 1
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Are process and technology silos holding back your organization? This session promises to detail techniques IT organizations
have used to successfully break down silos, plus tips for becoming your own silo-breaker. Panelists include Gerry Coady, CIO
of Frontier Airlines; Nagesh Anupindi, chief architect and director of architecture at Xcel Energy; and Peter Hughes, manager
of architecture at KPMG.
The future of application delivery
Thursday, May 1
11:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
Jim Metzler is moderating this session, which intends to answer questions such as: Is storage optimization likely to happen,
and if so, will anybody care? Will functionality such as symmetric and asymmetric application acceleration merge? Should you
build the network you need to support applications or can applications dynamically control the network resources they need?
The panel consists of speakers from Cisco, Radware, Riverbed Technology and Strangeloop Networks.