SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/27/07 -- The wide area network (WAN) performance-optimization technologies embedded in Windows Vista and Windows Server "Longhorn" will provide some of the functions currently furnished by today's external WAN performance-optimization devices, according to a Burton Group report.

However, senior analyst Eric Siegel of Burton Group's Network and Telecom Strategies recommends enterprise IT organizations currently evaluating WAN performance solutions purchase products now rather than wait a few years for the widespread installation of Microsoft Windows Vista.

According to Siegel, WAN performance-optimizing products can pay for themselves in less than two years through bandwidth savings and by enabling the centralization of IT services. Improvements in worker productivity, although less quantifiable, may be an even greater reason for improving performance quickly.

"If you're evaluating WAN performance solutions, don't lose time worrying about making a perfect long-term choice," says Siegel. "The solutions pay for themselves quickly, enterprise productivity will rise, and users will be happier, so act now. In three years, the environment will be different and you may want to re-evaluate your choices. Meanwhile, you're still far ahead."

Siegel reports that when wide-scale adoption of Vista arrives, the major performance changes will be in these three areas:

--  TCP/IP stack: notable performance increases for high-bandwidth or
    noisy communications paths and for multiple-CPU or multi-core systems
    because of flow control, error recovery, and scalability improvements
--  File services: faster access to remote files because of improvements
    to the Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol
--  Quality of Service (QoS): enhanced ability of administrators to manage
    QoS because of improved control over QoS markings
    

He advises that WAN performance-optimization devices will always be needed for situations in which Windows Vista technology isn't involved, or when data-reduction compression is useful. If using such devices with Windows Vista, it's important to ensure they can work with the Windows Vista security features.

A podcast with more information about network performance impacts of Vista is available at Burton Group Inflection Point, a complimentary resource which includes podcasts, blogs, and research. http://inflectionpoint.burtongroup.com

About Burton Group

Burton Group (www.burtongroup.com) helps technologists make smart enterprise architecture decisions in increasingly complex environments. Burton Group's research and advisory services focus on technical analysis of infrastructure technologies relating to security, identity management, web services, service-oriented architecture, collaboration, content management, and network and telecom.

Collin Searle
Public Relation Coordinator
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