Press Release

FINDING THE CALM IN THE STORM

NEW YORK, NY – February 7, 2002 - Across the globe, thousands of companies have come to the conclusion that the best and cost cost-effective solution in the face of severe IT shortages is outsourcing portions of IT services, such as externally hosting and managing key business applications. Although demand and growth of the Application Service Provider (ASP) market will reach $25.3 billion by 2004, many analysts predict there will be a shakeout of 40 percent of current vendors, with many vendors consolidating. Key to remaining a success in the marketplace is satisfying customer demand for well performing applications, while at the same time, controlling the costs of delivering services in this highly competitive market.

Surebridge, a full service ASP, is a key player in this market because it focuses on putting the customer experience first. The company provides application implementation, hosting and management services to 5000+ enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce users. Surebridge differentiates itself by providing premium level customer service and never turning a problem back to the customer. Surebridge offers a variety of world-class applications at different price points allowing customers the flexibility to meet both business and budget requirements. Surebridge customers are ensured high availability and performance when accessing Surebridge services.

In order to meet this high standard of quality, Surebridge monitors its data centers - the nerve centers for hosting all applications - with Entuity's state-of-the-art network management solution Eye of the Storm™. A leader in proactive network management, Entuity is the creator of the award-winning out-of-the-box software that monitors network activity and pinpoints current and future problems with network infrastructure. To ensure value to each customer's unique needs, Surebridge needs visibility into its network to foresee and pinpoint network errors to ensure top performance.

"If we aren't proactive in detecting errors before a crisis arises, the damage has been done and the customers will go away," said Predeep Khurana, chairman and founder of Surebridge. "Bottom line - we do what it takes to support our customers." Key to this commitment is the constant real-time monitoring of the Surebridge network infrastructure, coupled with analysis of performance loads and trends. In addition, Eye of the Storm has had a dramatic effect in resolving customer support issues beyond the Surebridge data centers.

When one customer complained of sluggish network connectivity and an increasing frequency of non-responding systems and applications, Surebridge installed Eye of the Storm within the customer's own local network, finding that the source of the problem was in the customer's LAN ending the frustration. Immediately after installation, Eye of the Storm identified multiple continuous transmission errors guiding Surebridge to the root of the problem - improperly set configurations between the PC network interface cards and the switch. Having the capability to drill down to the port level, Eye of the Storm was able to provide the necessary details to pinpoint a commonality across all hindered systems. Each system reporting an error possessed a network card that was not optimally configured for the network connection, causing data to move inefficiently. A Surebridge network engineer isolated and resolved the problem within a week - a problem that might have otherwise taken months to solve.

Across the globe, thousands of companies have come to the conclusion that the best and cost cost-effective solution in the face of severe IT shortages is outsourcing portions of IT services, such as externally hosting and managing key business applications. Although demand and growth of the Application Service Provider (ASP) market will reach $25.3 billion by 2004, many analysts predict there will be a shakeout of 40 percent of current vendors, with many vendors consolidating. Key to remaining a success in the marketplace is satisfying customer demand for well performing applications, while at the same time, controlling the costs of delivering services in this highly competitive market.

Surebridge, a full service ASP, is a key player in this market because it focuses on putting the customer experience first. The company provides application implementation, hosting and management services to 5000+ enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and e-commerce users. Surebridge differentiates itself by providing premium level customer service and never turning a problem back to the customer. Surebridge offers a variety of world-class applications at different price points allowing customers the flexibility to meet both business and budget requirements. Surebridge customers are ensured high availability and performance when accessing Surebridge services.

In order to meet this high standard of quality, Surebridge monitors its data centers - the nerve centers for hosting all applications - with Entuity's state-of-the-art network management solution Eye of the Storm™. A leader in proactive network management, Entuity is the creator of the award-winning out-of-the-box software that monitors network activity and pinpoints current and future problems with network infrastructure. To ensure value to each customer's unique needs, Surebridge needs visibility into its network to foresee and pinpoint network errors to ensure top performance.

"If we aren't proactive in detecting errors before a crisis arises, the damage has been done and the customers will go away," said Predeep Khurana, chairman and founder of Surebridge. "Bottom line - we do what it takes to support our customers." Key to this commitment is the constant real-time monitoring of the Surebridge network infrastructure, coupled with analysis of performance loads and trends. In addition, Eye of the Storm has had a dramatic effect in resolving customer support issues beyond the Surebridge data centers.

When one customer complained of sluggish network connectivity and an increasing frequency of non-responding systems and applications, Surebridge installed Eye of the Storm within the customer's own local network, finding that the source of the problem was in the customer's LAN ending the frustration. Immediately after installation, Eye of the Storm identified multiple continuous transmission errors guiding Surebridge to the root of the problem - improperly set configurations between the PC network interface cards and the switch. Having the capability to drill down to the port level, Eye of the Storm was able to provide the necessary details to pinpoint a commonality across all hindered systems. Each system reporting an error possessed a network card that was not optimally configured for the network connection, causing data to move inefficiently. A Surebridge network engineer isolated and resolved the problem within a week - a problem that might have otherwise taken months to solve.

"Traditionally, network monitoring has been a reactive exercise - wait for a crisis to arise and respond," Khurana said. As a service provider, we can't afford to wait for a crisis to arise; we need to be a step ahead of the game. Eye of the Storm effectively detects degradation of service - down to the desktop in some cases, allowing a NOC to head-off problems before they occur. Also, because it prioritizes problems by severity, this tool dramatically shortens problem time-to-resolution."

"Equipped with visibility into our network, we are able to detect and resolve problems for our customers rather quickly," said Mark Clayman, Director of Hosting for Surebridge. "Giving us the power to be more proactive, Eye of the Storm has been instrumental in helping us increase our service level - paving the way to provide additional services to r customers. Customer loyalty is a sizeable return on investment."

Surebridge continues to use Eye of the Storm for its internal network and externally on customers' networks. Now, before Surebridge starts offering its hosting services, a complete diagnostic of the customer's existing network may be completed. This overview pinpoints current network problems that will hinder the deliverance of Surebridge's services"Traditionally, network monitoring has been a reactive exercise - wait for a crisis to arise and respond," Khurana said. As a service provider, we can't afford to wait for a crisis to arise; we need to be a step ahead of the game. Eye of the Storm effectively detects degradation of service - down to the desktop in some cases, allowing a NOC to head-off problems before they occur. Also, because it prioritizes problems by severity, this tool dramatically shortens problem time-to-resolution."

"Equipped with visibility into our network, we are able to detect and resolve problems for our customers rather quickly," said Mark Clayman, Director of Hosting for Surebridge. "Giving us the power to be more proactive, Eye of the Storm has been instrumental in helping us increase our service level - paving the way to provide additional services to r customers. Customer loyalty is a sizeable return on investment."

Surebridge continues to use Eye of the Storm for its internal network and externally on customers' networks. Now, before Surebridge starts offering its hosting services, a complete diagnostic of the customer's existing network may be completed. This overview pinpoints current network problems that will hinder the deliverance of Surebridge's services.

About Entuity
Entuity is a leading provider of network management and service delivery solutions.  The Company’s Eye of the Storm (EYE) software suite automatically discovers and captures unrivalled network data and analytics, and provides integrated fault, device and flow-based performance management capabilities that help businesses reduce network downtime, commit to, deliver and prove service level commitments, and ensure network configuration compliance.

Winner of numerous industry and business awards in the last year, EYE has been praised for its fast deployment, ease of use, and low cost of ownership. Entuity customers include enterprises, SIs, and MSPs such as ABB, Amtrak, Astra Zeneca, BMC Software, Deutsche Bank, IBM Global Services, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Sony, Visteon, and the Williams Companies. For more information on Entuity, please visit www.entuity.com or call +1.718.261.3440 (North America) or +44 (0) 20 7444 4800 (Europe).

Entuity and Eye of the Storm are registered trademarks of Entuity, Ltd. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.