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Ascend Raises the Bar for Network Management with NavisXtend, a Set of Distributed Applications that Add Value to Service Provider Networks; Applications Reduce Network Operating Costs, Enable New Services
Business Wire - September 15, 1997 08:19
ASCEND-COMMUNICATIONS ASND %CALIFORNIA %TELECOMMUNICATIONS %COMED %PRODUCT V%BW P%BW
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1997--Ascend Communications, Inc. today announced NavisXtend, a comprehensive set of distributed network management applications that align directly to service provider business operations. The applications enable service providers to offer new services while reducing network operational expenses.
The NavisXtend applications are Accounting Server; Customer Network Management Server; Fault Server; Provisioning Server; Standby Server; and Statistics and Report Server. The NavisXtend applications can support hundreds of thousands of circuit connections, hundreds of simultaneous users, and globally distributed network operations and business centers. Service providers can add the NavisXtend applications individually or in any combination, tailoring and scaling them to meet the demands of internal operations as well as end-user service requirements.
NavisXtend is the newest member of the Ascend family of network management products which also includes NavisCore (formerly Cascade View/UX) and Navis Access (formerly NetClarity). NavisXtend works with, and extends the functions of, NavisCore, Ascend's industry-leading management solution for core networks. With the introduction of NavisXtend, Ascend becomes the only vendor with best-of-breed management for both the core and access portions of service provider networks.
"In today's increasingly competitive telecommunications industry, the NavisXtend applications give service providers a strategic business tool by evolving network management from a necessary overhead function to a value-added system," said Pam Dodge, Ascend's Director of Product Marketing, Network Management, Core Switching Division. "The NavisXtend applications can now positively impact the success of the business. They help generate revenues by enabling new services, improve customer service by distributing management to align with specific business functions and improve profitability by lowering operating costs."
The NavisXtend applications lower operating costs by automating and streamlining operations such as fault management, order entry, billing and report statistics. The applications integrate into existing management infrastructures and third-party value-added applications. They help service providers generate revenues by enabling new services that provide custom reports, network views, and flexible billing plans for end-user accounts.
The NavisXtend applications link management to business operations by leveraging client/server, IP and WEB technologies to enable easy distribution of management functions. All applications can be easily accessed using a standard PC with browser technology. For example, switch provisioning can be handled by order-entry departments - aligning customer order input with circuit configuration for the first time.
Each NavisXtend application focuses on a specific business function within an Ascend Frame Relay, ATM, IP, and SMDS switch network:
-- NavisXtend Accounting Server enables usage-and-time-based Switched Virtual Circuit (SVC) and Permanent Virtual Circuit (PVC) call billing. This gives service providers the flexibility to offer a variety of new ATM billing plans, including plans based on customer bandwidth consumption or call duration.
-- NavisXtend Customer Network Management Server enables service providers to package a new service allowing end users to monitor their subscribed portion of the service provider network. CNM Server enhances the appeal of network outsourcing for end users by enabling 24-hour access to network data in which end users can monitor link, congestion, and service quality at any time.
-- NavisXtend Fault Server enables service providers to improve network performance and reduce downtime expense by focusing on critical alarms and proactively monitoring for trend information. It intelligently correlates and consolidates network event and alarm information, enabling service providers to prevent storms of SNMP alerts and to address critical, service-affecting traps immediately. Fault Server also supports multi-vendor environments, with alarm forwarding to umbrella and legacy software applications to establish consistency in alarm response processes. For the first time, a Java interface design allows both internal operations personnel and external customers to access fault information via standard web browsers.
-- NavisXtend Provisioning Server reduces the number of resources required to manage the network by enabling service providers to perform one-time provisioning from their existing order entry systems. It simplifies order entry to a one-step process by using the data the service provider inputs during order entry and using it to automatically configure the end-user network. This dramatically lowers network operating costs by automating end-to-end provisioning across mixed Frame Relay and ATM networks and aligning customer order input with circuit configuration.
"Provisioning Server has enabled us to increase productivity fivefold. We have been able to use our existing order entry system and overlaid the Ascend API, allowing our operators to transparently provision in a multivendor network. Provisioning Server also allows us to provide end-to-end connectivity," said Janice Aune, vice president of operations, !NTERPRISE Networking Services, US West.
NavisXtend Standby Server provides full redundancy for NavisXtend network management data. This reduces costs associated with network failures by protecting valuable data assets and ensuring continuous network operations. Service providers can use Standby Server to implement internal disaster recovery plans that support backup and tight synchronization of data over the Wide Area Network.
NavisXtend Statistics and Report Server gathers detailed ATM, Frame Relay, and SMDS network usage statistics enabling service providers to review network performance and utilization to properly plan for network growth and design. It integrates ReportCast, a webcasting system for enterprise reporting from Actuate Software Corp. to deliver graphical information on network activity with tables, charts, and graphs. This provides easy-to-understand access to network data for internal and external customers. Service providers can offer customers these reports as a new service, making them available via the web using standard browsers for the first time. Ascend also is giving service providers a choice of reporting options by offering an alternative product - Network Health-Ascend. Jointly developed by Ascend and Concord Communications, Inc., Network Health-Ascend works with Statistics Server to provide web-based, service-level reporting and analysis.
Service providers can use Statistics and Report Server to open the network to their customers, allowing them to monitor the operational status of network devices and connections, configuration information, performance statistics and trap alarm conditions. These new services alleviate end-user concerns on QoS and SLA delivery with real-time access to data.
Intermedia Communications, a Tampa, FL-based Competitive Access Provider, is using Statistics Server as the base line for its ViewSPAN product. ViewSPAN is a Customer Network Management service that produces performance information on request and provides the facility for obtaining real-time trap information and service level performance, among others.
"Our customers want to know what's happening in their network now, 24-hours per day," said Marty Smith, Intermedia Communications' Director, Product Engineering. "Together Statistics Server and ViewSPAN provide customers a secure view into their portion of the network. Integrating our product with Ascend's Statistics Server and NMS database allows for significant economies during set up or provisioning and provides the foundation for true end-to-end views and analysis in a very non-intrusive, cost-effective way. That is something competitive products find difficulty in providing."
In conjunction with NavisXtend, Ascend today also announced its Advanced Applications group. Formed to create customized solutions for Ascend service provider customers, the new group will offer network management product design, consulting services, application prototyping and complete product development. Service providers can use these services to augment their own development efforts and speed time to market for service delivery.
Available now are the NavisXtend Statistics Server and Customer Network Management Server, priced at $7,500 each; Fault Server and Accounting Server, priced at $10,000 each; and Provisioning Server, priced at $15,000. The NavisXtend Report Generator and Standby Server, which will be available in Q4, 1997, will be priced at $15,000 each.
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells wide area networking solutions for telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers, and corporate customers worldwide. For more information about Ascend and its products, please visit the Ascend web site at ascend.com, or e-mail info@ascend.com. Ascend is headquartered at One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, CA 94502. Phone: 800/ASCEND4; Fax: 510/814-2300.
CONTACT: Ascend Communications, Inc.
Lucy Graziano, 508/952-1291
lucy.graziano@ascend.com
or
Gallagher PR
Kevin Gallagher, 510/743-7830
kevin@gpr.com
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