Virtela Receives Frost & Sullivan Product Leadership Award for Cloud-Based Application Acceleration Service

DENVER, June 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtela, the world's largest independent managed network, security and cloud services company, today announced it has been awarded the 2011 Product Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan for Wide Area Network (WAN) Optimization Services. Virtela was recognized for its Cloud-Based Application Acceleration Service, the industry's first virtualized managed application acceleration service, which enables enterprises to escape the high cost and complexity of dedicated hardware appliances at each branch office. The service can be activated instantly in more than 190 countries at a fraction of the cost of traditional hardware-based solutions.

This award is based on Frost & Sullivan's independent analysis of the North American WAN Optimization Services market. In a report summarizing the award criteria, Frost & Sullivan identified Virtela's advanced cloud features and functionality, global Enterprise Services Cloud (ESC) platform innovation, high service quality, market adoption and customer value enhancements as key reasons for its leadership in providing WAN optimization services.  

"As escalating business trends such as cloud computing and remote users increase the demands on corporate network resources, more enterprises require an application delivery solution that is affordable, effective and easy to manage," says Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Lynda Stadtmueller. "Virtela's Cloud-Based Application Acceleration Service meets that need with a flexible corporate-wide solution that surpasses competitors' traditional WAN Optimization services. By eliminating the need for client-side hardware, Virtela's service is affordable and manageable even for small corporate locations, easing global deployments.

"Furthermore, Virtela provides impressive performance improvement gains for specific applications, backed by a strong 250% money-back guarantee. The managed service can help enterprises speed applications from any data center environment, premises-based or hosted, private or public cloud, consistently and cost-effectively."

Virtela's Cloud-Based Application Acceleration Service enables enterprises to turbo-charge business applications up to 25 times faster at the flip of a switch for just $5 a day per branch office. The service is enabled by Virtela ESC, the only cloud architecture purpose-built for enterprise networking, security and mobility.  

Virtela ESC's highly-distributed network of 50 Local Cloud Centers (LCCs) around the world extends the cloud close to the end user and content source to accelerate applications immediately. The service improves application response times between any enterprise location, including headquarters, data centers/private clouds, branch offices, mobile workers, partners and public clouds. The cloud-based service can also be implemented as a hybrid solution with Virtela's appliance-based service, giving enterprises the flexibility to choose the best application acceleration approach per location.

Adds Stadtmueller: "Virtela is one of few CSPs that are poised to reap the benefits of the growing enterprise need for high-performing, cost-effective WANs that deliver faster application response times.  For Virtela, managed WAN optimization and application acceleration services are part of a cloud-based communications framework that enables enterprises to optimize not only application delivery but security, mobility and other integral services. Furthermore, Virtela's product development, marketing and sales efforts ensure its customers fully understand the value of WAN optimization and application delivery services, and its lineup of solutions for all location sizes plus unparalleled management expertise ensures the broadest possible adoption."  

"We are honored to receive this Frost & Sullivan award, which further illustrates our commitment to superior customer value through the innovative application of advanced technologies combined with a passionate commitment to customer service," said Ted Studwell, Virtela's senior vice president of engineering and operations. "Customer relationships are our top priority and we consistently deliver additional value to their businesses as a seamless extension of their IT staffs and as an innovator in managed network, security and cloud services."

To read Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Research report: 2011 North American Product Leadership Award for WAN Optimization Services, click here.

For more information on Virtela ESC services and benefits, including a short video and interactive model, click here.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best-in-class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best-practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 40 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit http://www.frost.com.

About Virtela

Virtela Technology Services Incorporated is the world's largest independent managed network, security and cloud services company. Virtela offers an award-winning suite of services – including managed networks, security, application acceleration and proactive infrastructure management – to mid-market and Fortune 500 customers around the world. Virtela offers unparalleled geographic reach to more than 190 countries through its partnerships with more than 500 carriers.

Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with globally distributed Network Operations Centers in the U.S., India and the Philippines. For more information, please call +1 (720) 475-4000 or visit www.virtela.net.

SOURCE Virtela