Verizon Business Receives SearchEnterpriseWAN.com 2009 Product Leadership Award

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - Verizon Business' Managed WAN Optimization Services have been recognized with a SearchEnterpriseWAN.com 2009 Product Leadership Award.  Verizon Business, which received a Bronze Award in the Product Leadership Awards' WAN optimization/application-delivery category, was the only service provider to receive an award in any category.

Verizon Managed WAN Optimization Services enable enterprises to cost-effectively fine-tune Internet protocol (IP) networks to better manage application performance. The services help enterprises quickly and reliably deliver applications to end users, whether their offices are located around the block or around the globe. 

"This award from SearchEnterpriseWAN.com highlights our success in providing large-business and government customers with services that help them operate more efficiently and effectively," said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president - global business products, Verizon.  "Verizon Managed WAN Optimization Services enable customers to make the most of existing IP infrastructure to reliably deliver the critical applications that power their operations."

The SearchEnterpriseWAN.com 2009 Product Leadership Awards were chosen by the readership of the prominent online trade publication's readership - specifically, by 500 networking professionals, based on their assessment of products currently deployed within their own WANS.  The awards comprise three wide-area networking (WAN) product categories and recognize 10 products that enterprise IT professionals should consider adding to their "A" list of networking products to evaluate. 

Participants were asked to evaluate the products according to defined product-specific criteria, with cumulative scores calculated for each product.  Editors of SearchEnterpriseWAN.com then used these scores to determine gold, silver and bronze award-winners for the industry's best wide-area networking products.

According to SearchEnterpriseWAN.com, "For network professionals looking to avoid the hassle of deploying appliances on their own, Verizon offers Managed WAN Optimization Services.  It scored the highest marks in ability to mitigate network latency, with 61 percent of survey respondents awarding it four or five stars out of five.  Our readers described the service as 'state of the art' and 'good, solid service,' with one saying it is 'the best one can expect to have.'"

D. Blair Crump, group president - worldwide sales, Verizon Business, said, "This honor underscores our commitment to delivering high-value services to our enterprise customers.  Verizon Managed WAN Optimization Services are another example of our commitment to providing solutions that truly power our customers' operations and help them succeed globally in a highly competitive and dynamic environment."

Verizon Business initially launched the optimization services on the Juniper Networks platform in the U.S. in October 2007 and expanded availability internationally in October 2008.  The Cisco Systems platform was made available in the U.S., as well as in many European and Asia-Pacific countries, in October 2008.  Both platforms are ideal for geographically dispersed organizations, such as those in the retail, finance and manufacturing sectors.

Verizon Managed WAN Optimization Services are supported by Verizon Business' award-winning IMPACT network management platform, a fully automated system that provides round-the-clock network and application monitoring and fault resolution.  IMPACT gathers data that serves as the foundation for monthly reports covering application performance analysis, capacity audits and recommendations for enhancing network efficiency.

Verizon Business manages 270,000-plus security, network and hosting devices across more than 4,000 customer networks spanning 142 countries and territories, overseeing non-Verizon connections from more than 60 network providers worldwide.  Through 2,700 specially trained and experienced consultants, Verizon Business also offers a standardized set professional-service capabilities in 30 countries around the globe.

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with the world's most connected IP network to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions.  We securely connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees - enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment.  Many of the world's largest businesses and governments - including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions - rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

About SearchEnterpriseWAN.com
SearchEnterpriseWAN.com is one of the largest and most active online communities dedicated to the enterprise wide area network. IT professionals in almost every industry rely on SearchEnterpriseWAN.com for industry news, technical tips and valuable best practices on designing a Wide Area Network, optimizing application performance across the WAN, WAN security and VPN usage, or selecting managed services so they can keep their networks up to date and cope with constant change. More information is available at www.SearchEnterpriseWAN.com.

Headquartered in Needham, Mass., SearchEnterpriseWAN.com is part of the TechTarget® network (www.techtarget.com). TechTarget publishes integrated media that enable information-technology (IT) marketers to reach targeted communities of IT professionals and executives in all phases of the technology decision-making and purchase process. Through its industry-leading Web sites, magazines and conferences, TechTarget delivers measurable results that help IT marketers generate qualified sales leads, shorten sales cycles and grow revenues.

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