Radware and application delivery

Radware recently brought me up to date on the status of their application delivery controllers (ADC) and how they can be used to help organizations virtualize access in a consolidated, orchestrated environment. Although in the past the company has offered their technology in the form of an appliance they are now also making the software available for environments in which another box isn't the best approach.

Their dense, acronym filled presentation showed a complex mix of different applications, each running in its own server environment, and how organizations could achieve reductions in both operational and capital expenses using Radware's products. I must admit that the examples were dense enough that when I looked back at my notes and their presentation deck, I could make very little sense of them! What is clear is that they are seeking ways to offer end-to-end application delivery through the use of applications and software to improve business agility.

Since I've written about Radware before (see Radware: Appliances for virtual environments for more info), I was able to follow the complex presentation to some degree. Their approach to offering application deliver through the use of both appliances and packaged software has merit. Their ideas about using a combination of access and processing virtualization to create a more agile environment also has merit. Suppliers such as VMware, Citrix, Microsoft and even Red Hat seem to agree because they are offering software products that offer similar capabilities even though they're not always offered in the form of an appliance server.