Riverbed Renames Products

Riverbed Technology, Inc. has introduced new product names that better describe what each product does and reflect how together they deliver strategic value as part of an integrated solution, the Riverbed Application Performance Platform.

The consistent naming framework reinforces how Riverbed solutions work together to deliver optimal application and data performance across global infrastructures.

The product renaming is the next step in its evolution and expansion into a multi-product vendor that offers an integrated application platform, a growth strategy that has been in the works for several years and unveiled by Riverbed in November 2013. Riverbed’s strategy is aimed at fueling its growth in the application performance infrastructure, an $11 billion market opportunity growing at about a 5% CAGR.

“Riverbed launched our first product 10 years ago with our Steelhead WAN Optimisation solution, and over the last four years, we have made the journey from a single product company to something much bigger. Today, we offer the industry’s most complete application performance platform to allow customers to host applications and data in whatever location makes the most business sense, regardless of distance or location, while ensuring the flawless delivery of applications and data. We call this concept location-independent computing and it has been the idea behind the solutions we’ve brought to market for years,” said Kate Hutchison, CMO, Riverbed. “We’re now updating our product brand names to better communicate what our products do and reinforce how they are part of an integrated platform that ensures applications perform as expected and data is always available when needed.“

The new product family names build off Riverbed’s product, Steelhead.

Each begins with a word that signifies the strength of infrastructure
and celebrates Riverbed’s heritage, Steel:

• Riverbed SteelHead (formerly Steelhead): the WAN optimization solution that delivers applications and data at the fast speedsacross the optimal networks for the low cost.
• Riverbed SteelFusion (formerly Granite): the branch converged infrastructure that delivers local performance, data centralization, instant recovery and lower TCO.
  Riverbed SteelApp (formerly Stingray): the virtual application delivery controller (ADC) for scalable, secure and elastic delivery of enterprise, cloud and e-commerce applications.
• Riverbed SteelStore (formerly Whitewater): a scalable cloud storage appliance that reduces data protection costs by up to 80%, integrates into existing backup infrastructure and eliminates tape backup.
• Riverbed SteelCentral (formerly OPNET, Cascade and NEOP):  a performance management suite that combines user experience, application and network performance management to provide the visibility needed to diagnose and cure issues before end users notice a problem, call the help desk to complain or jump to another web site out of frustration.
• Riverbed SteelScript (formerly FlyScript): open APIs and developer tools to customize and automate application performance infrastructure from Riverbed.

“Industry watchers and customers alike have recognized Riverbed as the leader in the WAN Optimization space for many years now,” said Rohit Mehra, VP, network infrastructure, IDC. “As WAN networking technologies and related application performance and management domains have evolved, lines continue to blur across many of these application and performance optimization solutions. Staying focused on providing end-to-end application performance, and as a key player in the network and application infrastructure eco-system, it is refreshing to see Riverbed introduce a newer, simplified positioning and naming for its portfolio that is now significantly broader than the WAN Optimization Steelhead solutions it is most known for.“

“The Riverbed Application Performance Platform and new naming convention allows Riverbed to talk about its products more intelligently and cohesively,” said Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “Riverbed has gone through a significant transformation by broadening the product portfolio over the past few years, but it’s been hard for the market to keep pace. This new way of classifying Riverbed technologies will help buyers to see the total value opportunities availed to them.“

Riverbed’s new product brand names are now live on the company’s web site, and customers can expect to see the user interfaces of Riverbed products evolve to reflect the new names in the coming months timed to software updates and new appliance releases. The new brand identity is now visible at the company’s new HQs and customer briefing center in San Francisco (officially opening in June), and additional offices and customer briefing centers globally will transition to the new product branding in the coming quarters.

Riverbed has also changed the names of some form factors and product descriptors, which can be found in a quick reference guide.