Riverbed Launches First Cloud Service As Part Of Unified Observability Push

Riverbed’s Unified Observability software portfolio, launched in April, has its first SaaS service: Alluvio IQ

Riverbed has unveiled its first product in its recently introduced Unified Observability software portfolio as the company seeks to reclaim its position as a leader in the observability space.

Cloud-native SaaS service Alluvio IQ will inject more automation and visibility into the increasingly complex network, including into remote and hybrid work environments to help free up IT teams to work on more strategic IT initiatives at a time when IT resources are being stretched thin, the San Francisco-based company announced on Tuesday.

Riverbed in April revealed its two core brands: Riverbed Acceleration and Alluvio by Riverbed, which reflects the company’s heavy focus and investment in unified observability to bring together network and application data and insights for enterprises and channel partners.

[Related: Riverbed CEO Focused On ‘Disruption’ In Network Observability Space In 2022]

Alluvio IQ is the first service built on Riverbed’s new Alluvio Unified Observability platform and runs on Microsoft Azure.

Alluvio IQ, which has been in Beta since late May, goes beyond application monitoring and testing. The service crosses what have historically been data silos and applies AI and machine learning to contextually bring together and correlate a variety of data streams and alerts to identify events that could impact business in a single perspective. The service automates the process of gathering and correlating more than 10,000 metrics per minute across time, device, location, and applications, according to Riverbed.

The new cloud service will help “shift left,” meaning it can help equip junior IT staff with the information to do the job of more experienced IT experts without needing to escalate the issues, while also giving more senior IT staff the room to focus on strategic business initiatives, Riverbed channel chief Alex Thurber told CRN.

“Alluvio IQ provides that AI umbrella on top to really allow the helpdesk or the end user to figure out not only what’s going on, but if they want to actually start doing automated remediation,” he said. “The actionable insights that we can give newer or less trained employees can expand [a businesses’] opportunity to get the job done quicker.”

The service will also reduce the number of alerts, A.K.A. “alert fatigue” for IT teams to they can focus on fewer, more critical events, Thurber added.

For the channel, Alluvio IQ is focused on the needs of professional services and customer success, something that partners are investing in heavily today, Thurber said. The new service must be customized to the individual end user, which presents opportunity for the partner.

“It’s not just the install and configuration, it’s really taking it and then integrating it into the business practice of the customer. Those are highly valuable services and there should be very good profit margin on them for [partners]. And what’s really important is it integrates the partner into the business of the customer and drives that trusted advisor status,” he said.

Alluvio IQ is now generally available via an annual contract. Thurber said the company will work toward making this service available through a consumption-based financial model.