"Blue Coat's new solution puts it outside the traditional WOC space since it is asymmetrical," says analyst Andre Kindness, Forrester Research. "It's almost an ADC, but next to the user and not servers. Consequently, WOC, application delivery controllers (ADCs), and cloud gateways will slowly transform into a uXn solution."
Cloud cache is just another cloud story, he says, but there is a more interesting trend happening in the application acceleration space. "Walls between application delivery controllers, WAN optimization and cloud gateways are blurring, and companies are starting to realize that they can't focus on just application or static situations. Users and the location of the information is highly dynamic. Users expect a mashup. There will be solutions that can orchestrate this mashup based on the capabilities of ADC, WOC and cloud gateways."
John Burke, principal research analyst, Nemertes Research, says there will be continued growth in private external cloud usage. This will require things like virtual optimizers to scale as needed, so the updated MACH5 VA is the right kind of step to take, he says, adding, "We also are tracking increases in the percentage of branches with direct-to-branch Internet access, especially the rise of Internet-only branches in support of the virtual enterprise. In addition to making WAN aggregation a key technology going forward, rising reliance on Internet branches increases the need for asymmetrical optimization in the branch."
Overall, Burke believes, both appliance vendors and cloud application delivery optimization providers, including carriers, will need to direct more attention to optimizing asymmetrically for the Internet branch. "The biggest trend is enterprise virtualization: decreasing the reliance of the enterprise on specific physical locations by supporting telework, collaboration tools and the lightweight Internet branch. As fewer staff need to come to an office to work with peers and systems, and as fewer locations have to be sited permanently and in high-cost areas with high-cost connectivity options, the enterprise becomes more agile in responding to changing needs and with lower overhead. This drives both Internet branch growth and use of infrastructure as a service."
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