Sniffer Readies Security, Network Performance Line
Network Performance Orchestrator (nPO) provides a centralized, Web-based view into data gathered by the Sniffer Distributed fault isolation and performance management tool.
The Sniffer product line includes two appliances,the nPO Manager, which monitors and manages Sniffer Distributed appliances, and nPO Visualizer, which generates and distributes reports based on gathered data.
The appliances are sold separately, but customers are most likely to purchase them together, said Christopher Thompson, vice president of product marketing at Sniffer, based here.
"Customers can take network data and make it actionable by other people in the organization who typically wouldn't have access to it," Thompson said.
The nPO line represents the next generation of Sniffer Resource Manager and Sniffer Watch, both of which will be phased out, he said.
Solution providers should find additional revenue opportunities in customizing the nPO line for customers, especially those in the midmarket with limited IT staff, Thompson said.
"I expect many channel partners will derive profit, particularly on Visualizer, from helping tune the product to the customer's business," he said.
Sniffer plans to introduce the products to solution providers and provide channel training next week at the Network Associates Partner Symposium, being held in Las Vegas.
With nPO, Sniffer hopes to reach beyond its traditional enterprise customer base into the midmarket, targeting companies that derive at least half of their revenue from their networks, Thompson said.
Sniffer has established its pricing strategy to start low and then increase as customers monitor more points on their networks, he added.
"The network analyzer environment has been slow, but Sniffer, [with some of the most expensive [products, has suffered the most," said Hicham Ennaimi, senior sales consultant at TLIC Worldwide, a network and security integrator based in Boston.
Pricing starts at $30,000 for nPO Manager and $40,000 for nPO Visualizer.