Conference: Application Delivery Track

Track Chair: Jim Metzler
Vice President
Ashton, Metzler & Associates

Today, the vast majority of IT organizations plans and manages each component of the IT infrastructure in relative isolation. That approach is based on the flawed assumption that if each component of IT is performing well, then the application will perform well. Many IT organizations have begun to shift away from that approach and are now adopting an approach that focuses not on silos of technology, but on the delivery of applications. This track will identify the challenges associated with application delivery and will detail the key technologies and services that will enable you to be successful with application delivery.

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Tuesday, May 19
10:15 am–11:15 am	Conference Sessions  Application Performance Management Management used to be focused primarily on the availability of network devices, such as switches and routers. During the last few years, the focus of management has evolved to where it typically now includes the performance of both networks and applications. In this session, the panelists will describe the technologies and processes that IT organizations should implement to become more efficient at managing the infrastructure, while simultaneously becoming better at managing the performance of key applications. Moderator - Jim Metzler, Vice President, Ashton, Metzler & Associates Jim has a wide background in the IT industry. This includes being a software engineer, an engineering manager for high-speed data services for a major telco, a product manager for network hardware, a network manager at two Fortune 500 companies, and the principal of a consulting organization. In addition, Jim has created software tools for designing customer networks for a major IXC, and directed and performed market research at a major industry analyst firm.
11:30 am–12:30 pm	Conference Sessions  A Comparison of WAN Optimization Controllers The vast majority of workers currently reside in branch offices and access applications over relatively low-speed and high-latency WAN. This use of the WAN causes many applications to perform badly. To mitigate the impact of the WAN on application performance, many vendors have developed a solution referred to as a WAN Optimization Controller (WOC). In this PowerPoint-free session, leading WOC vendors will be asked questions to identify the similarities and differences between their products. Moderator - Jim Metzler, Vice President, Ashton, Metzler & Associates Jim has a wide background in the IT industry. This includes being a software engineer, an engineering manager for high-speed data services for a major telco, a product manager for network hardware, a network manager at two Fortune 500 companies, and the principal of a consulting organization. In addition, Jim has created software tools for designing customer networks for a major IXC, and directed and performed market research at a major industry analyst firm.
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Wednesday, May 20
10:15 am–11:15 am	Conference Sessions  How Networks Can Assist Application Delivery Historically, the way networks once assisted applications was by providing sufficient bandwidth. Recently, vendors have started to integrate functionality such as secure sockets layer (SSL) processing and WAN optimization into network devices. Now we are beginning to see a movement to provide application programming interfaces (APIs) directly to the switches' and routers' operating systems, and to also run portions of an application directly on switches and routers. The panelists at this session will discuss the spectrum of functionality that is being integrated into network devices, as well as the pros and cons of doing so. Moderator - Jim Metzler, Vice President, Ashton, Metzler & Associates Jim has a wide background in the IT industry. This includes being a software engineer, an engineering manager for high-speed data services for a major telco, a product manager for network hardware, a network manager at two Fortune 500 companies, and the principal of a consulting organization. In addition, Jim has created software tools for designing customer networks for a major IXC, and directed and performed market research at a major industry analyst firm.
2:00 pm–3:00 pm	Conference Sessions  What SOA and Web 2.0 Means to the Network In the past couple of years, service-oriented architecture (SOA) and web services have been overhyped. Currently, Web 2.0 is beginning to suffer the same fate. Because of the hype, it is easy to dismiss these application development architectures as irrelevant. Both of these architectures are only in the early stages of influencing how applications are developed and applications build using either architecture are likely to run poorly and be difficult to manage. The panelists at this session will detail the management and performance issues associated with SOA and Web 2.0, and give their insight into what you can do to avoid them Moderator - Jim Metzler, Vice President, Ashton, Metzler & Associates Jim has a wide background in the IT industry. This includes being a software engineer, an engineering manager for high-speed data services for a major telco, a product manager for network hardware, a network manager at two Fortune 500 companies, and the principal of a consulting organization. In addition, Jim has created software tools for designing customer networks for a major IXC, and directed and performed market research at a major industry analyst firm.
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Thursday, May 21
11:30 am–12:30 pm	Conference Sessions  The Future of Application Delivery A couple of years ago, it was common to equate application delivery to network and application optimization. However, ensuring successful application delivery requires that IT organizations do more than just implement optimization techniques. It also involves planning, management and control that extends to a wide range of IT disciplines, not just networks. As a result, most of the application delivery vendors have begun to develop expertise in other areas including security, storage and management. In this session, leading vendors will outline their divergent views on the future of application delivery. Moderator - Jim Metzler, Vice President, Ashton, Metzler & Associates Jim has a wide background in the IT industry. This includes being a software engineer, an engineering manager for high-speed data services for a major telco, a product manager for network hardware, a network manager at two Fortune 500 companies, and the principal of a consulting organization. In addition, Jim has created software tools for designing customer networks for a major IXC, and directed and performed market research at a major industry analyst firm.
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