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Spotlight on Austin: Anue Systems' Tommy Landry

The second part of my Spotlight on Austin series features Anue Systems,  which provides network emulators for testing real world network conditions and tool aggregation for optimizing networking and application monitoring. While Anue Systems isn't a Web or social media company that would normally fall onto my radar, it has stood out to me due to its smart use of social media as an enterprise technology-focused company.
Written by Jennifer Leggio, Contributor

The second part of my Spotlight on Austin series features Anue Systems,  which provides network emulators for testing real world network conditions and tool aggregation for optimizing networking and application monitoring. While Anue Systems isn't a Web or social media company that would normally fall onto my radar, it has stood out to me due to its smart use of social media as an enterprise technology-focused company. The company was initially launched in 2002 and has been profitable since it's launch due to its success in helping security officers, network engineers and CTOs better manage their networks and data centers using emulation technology. I spoke with Tommy Landry, manager of product marketing, to ask my Spotlight questions and find out more about Anue Systems' business.

Q. [Jennifer] What is Anue Systems' main business objective? What are you selling?

A. [Tommy] We sell two products that address important pieces of the technology lifecycle:

1. Testing before deployment - Network Emulators are used by enterprises, network equipment manufacturers, service providers, etc. to test the impact of the WAN on application performance before deploying live in a production environment or releasing new products that will be used in that same environment.

2. Monitoring after deployment - Tool aggregators are used by enterprises and service providers to optimize all three variables of the network/application monitoring equation: network visibility/coverage, monitoring tool utilization, and data center staff productivity. Using advanced filtering techniques, this product helps data centers efficiently monitor more network segments with fewer tools and speeds MTTR for troubleshooting.

Q. What are the top three problems that you are solving for your clients / customers?

A. Helping manage the transition from 1G to 10G networks by enabling companies to monitor 10G links with 1G tools; improving how data centers use monitoring tools to ensure full network coverage; and providing a safe way to test how applications and networks will interact before rolling out on a live network.

Q. What types of customers do you have?

A. Any company with a data center, WAN, etc. can use our products. Network emulation tends to sell mostly to larger companies due to the nature of the product, while tool aggregation sells to anyone who monitors performance, security, etc. on their network. Typically, it is most important for us to find the right individuals based on their role, e.g. test engineer, network operations manager/director, data center manager/director, network analyst, IT architect, CTO, CSO, security manager/director.

Q. Who are some of your customers and do you have case studies you can show?

A. Some customer examples are Cisco, Veritas, Bear Stearns, Unisys, AT&T, BP, Sony, Fujitsu and Microsoft Technology Center.

Q. Tell me your perspective on the innovation coming out of Austin.

A. Personally, I moved to Austin specifically to be near "Silicon Hills", as they referred to it back in the 90s (even though the outstanding music scene played a part in my decision). It is well-known that this is an outstanding city in which to start and grow a business, and the networking opportunities for entrepreneurs are limitless. The city boasts a highly educated and engaged population, which contributes greatly to its appeal both for companies and individuals. Because of this culture of collaboration and risk-taking, we often see companies spring up seemingly out of nowhere to quickly garner attention both locally and nationally. Austin has been host to the birth and growth of outstanding companies in industries such as gaming, digital publishing, semiconductors, IT equipment, Web 2.0 applications, etc.

Q. Name one other Austin-based company that you feel has it dialed in and tell me why.

A. I have a couple of candidates here:

1. Lifesize Communications - They offer HD video conferencing solutions. Given the current state of the economy, business travel is lower than it has been in years. Lifesize provides a topnotch solution that fills a real business need - to "be there" without having to actually be there. I, personally, believe that this "correction" is a fundamental change in our economy, so I see Lifesize as here to stay and prosper.

2. Powered - For a company that was once focused heavily on online training, they have done an outstanding job of redefining themselves to capitalize on the whole social media space. While the industry will continue to change, companies who can adapt to the current needs of the market are well-positioned to be relevant into the future.

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