FineGround Further Bridges the Gap Between IT Performance and the Business With New Integrated Application Delivery Dashboard

FineGround Further Bridges the Gap Between IT Performance and the Business With New Integrated Application Delivery Dashboard

Dashboard and Expanded Web Transaction Monitoring Provide Service-Level Insight Across the Extended Enterprise

CAMPBELL, Calif., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- FineGround Inc., the leader in Web application delivery, today introduced the industry's first Application Delivery Dashboard, providing visibility into application service levels across the extended enterprise. A component of the FineGround Enterprise Application Delivery (EAD) Suite, the Dashboard elevates application performance monitoring beyond the tracking of URL's to begin monitoring the performance of complete transactions, such as quote-to-cash or order look-up. The EAD Suite now enables IT organizations to visualize -- and dramatically improve -- Web application service levels in the extended enterprise from the end-user's perspective.

As a fully integrated solution, the FineGround EAD Suite enables customers to automate the delivery of business-critical Web applications to users across the extended enterprise -- branch office workers, road warriors, partners and customers. An extension of the FineGround AppScope performance monitoring module, the Dashboard gives customers a business-focused yardstick for understanding, measuring and communicating application service levels across the global network.

"As enterprises rely more on Web-based Enterprise applications, IT organizations need solutions that help deliver and monitor application service across the extended enterprise," said Mark Fabbi, vice president at Gartner. "Integrated application delivery solutions are required to ensure consistency of application performance and better business results. Vendors that more fully bridge the gap between business and IT are much more likely to generate tangible returns for their customers."

"Our customers are tasked with delivering continuity in service levels to users across the globe, while keeping costs under control and securing business-critical applications," said Nat Kausik, CEO of FineGround. "With the Application Delivery Dashboard, FineGround takes the lead in enabling organizations to automate Web application delivery with an integrated deployment vehicle for monitoring, securing, and accelerating their critical Web-enabled business processes."

Bridging the Gap Between Business and IT Performance in the Extended Enterprise

The FineGround Application Delivery Dashboard is concerned with the delivery and monitoring of Web applications from a user-based service approach rather than from a traditional IT-centric component-based approach. The Dashboard extends the AppScope module of the FineGround EAD Suite with the following features:

-- Visibility into user interactions at the service level -- not just the
URL level. The Application Delivery Dashboard puts component and page
response times into a business service context by grouping them
according to the function that the end-user is performing (generating a
sales quote, order look-up, etc). For instance, if an employee files
an online expense report, and the process involves five different page
visits, the FineGround Application Delivery Dashboard groups these
pages into one unit and reports performance based on the overall
response time to complete the entire process.
-- Transaction builder for customizing application service monitoring
across the extended enterprise. The FineGround Application Delivery
Dashboard makes it easy for customers to "build" the transaction
grouping they want to monitor, measure and accelerate. The Dashboard's
transaction builder is an intuitive, easy-to-use tool that allows users
to customize the way transactions are aggregated (by URL, query string,
parameters) and to group unit transactions for reporting.
-- Intuitive UI and reporting. The Dashboard provides a very clear
illustration of the service levels applications are delivering across
the extended enterprise. With high-level executive summaries and trend
reports, the Dashboard acts as a business-oriented overview of core IT
service; with its drill-down capability into specific page statistics
and the breakdown between desktop, network, and service, IT
organizations can act quickly and efficiently on the most critical
problems.



"With the introduction of the Business Transaction Dashboard, FineGround addresses a significant gap between business success and the delivery of IT services," said Rich Ptak, principal analyst with Ptak, Noel & Associates. "While solutions abound for measuring and reporting on how applications are meeting service levels within the data center or local network, FineGround introduces a solution to actively manage the actual experience of far-flung users."

The FineGround Enterprise Application Delivery Solution

The lack of visibility into application performance with regard to business process functionality often leads to over-provisioning, poor customer service, and difficulties in problem resolution. With limited time and resources, IT executives are seeking ways to automate the secure delivery of their business applications over greater geographic distances and over a variety of networks, so that applications and infrastructures better manage themselves to improve operations and deliver against promised service levels.

The FineGround EAD Suite incorporates three critical functions to bridge the gap between the world of the data center and that of the extended enterprise: application acceleration, end-user monitoring and application- layer security. Deployed as an integrated platform in the data center, the FineGround EAD Suite delivers dramatic performance improvements to end-users across the extended enterprise and secures these applications against interruption.

Availability and Pricing

The Application Delivery Dashboard will be available in general release in January of 2005. The Dashboard is included as part of the FineGround AppScope Performance Monitor. Pricing for FineGround solutions start at $15,000 U.S.

About FineGround

FineGround offers the industry's only fully integrated Enterprise Application Delivery Suite for automated performance optimization, end-to-end monitoring and application security. Global 2000 companies implement FineGround's solution to automate the secure delivery of mission critical applications to branch offices, maximizing IT efficiency and application performance. The FineGround Enterprise Application Delivery Suite installs in the data center requiring no changes to the desktop, application or servers. FineGround is headquartered in Campbell, California with regional headquarters in London, Hong Kong, and Toronto. Information about FineGround can be found on the Web at www.fineground.com.


Source: FineGround Inc.

CONTACT: Leah Bibbo of Kulesa PR, +1-650-340-1982 or leah@kulesapr.com,
for FineGround Inc.

Web site: http://www.fineground.com/


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