Aryaka, the four-year-old startup fast making a name for itself in the cloud-based WAN optimization space, this week launched what it calls application delivery as-a-service, targeting the broader customer segment around application optimization and performance.
Aryaka is positioning its application delivery service at so-called distributed business users -- remote workers and mobile users in particular -- who need speedy, robust access to enterprise applications all the time. How it works is that Aryaka connects users to its geographically closest point-of-presence (POP) to streamline user-to-application requests and keep those requests secure.
Aryaka argues that customer access to its private global network of POPs and the many dedicated links they provide make capabilities such as application proxy, data-deduplication and TCP optimization work as well for users as they would being accessed from a LAN. Its POPs are distributed in such a way that the company claims it can offer 20-millisecond latency to more than 90 percent of business users around the world.
[Related: 15 WAN Optimization Players VARs Should Know]
The move should put Aryaka in closer competition with not only WAN op kingpins such as Riverbed, but also application delivery specialists such as F5 Networks and Citrix. Application delivery represents a natural extension for Aryaka based on how its services are architected, said Sonal Puri, vice president, marketing and sales.
"Aryaka's target is not so much on specific vendors or markets. It is more on providing enterprises with an end-end solution for all their networking needs -- private-public and public to private for all locations -- HQ, branch, data centers, SaaS, cloud services and mobile and remote office users, customers and partners," Puri told CRN. "This defines a shift in the wide-area network and what it encompasses today. IT is tasked with improving performance across all these users without exception and to do so in a simple and more affordable way."
Customers don't need separate vendors for WAN op appliances, MPLS and application delivery networking, Puri said, when Aryaka can offer all of that as-a-service.
"Aryaka's vision continues to move toward the midmarket enterprise that needs to have the same access to technology as the larger companies but should be able to get it in a utility model," she said.
Founded in 2008 and based in Milpitas, Calif., Aryaka opened up its services offerings to channel partners in the summer of 2011. It's been growing at a steady clip, and a few months ago took in a $25 million Series C round of venture funding that included InterWest Partners, Presidio Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Trinity Ventures and Mohr Davidow Ventures.
Aryaka offers each its three main services -- WAN optimization, network availability and application delivery -- through solution providers. Puri said the Aryaka model is ideal for cloud deployments and the more complex service-level agreements customers now demand.
"Our business definitely provides higher SLAs and five-nines of uptime on our core network, which is higher than other private IP networks and we guarantee delivery faster than the origin to a globally distributed audience," she said. "Our end-to-end visibility and control through our web-based MyAryaka portal informs IT in realtime of the health of their networks and their application performance. The same technology deployed on the premium WAN optimization solution extends to the other application users and keeps them well connected."
PUBLISHED OCT. 26, 2012
