Cisco unveils application oriented networking.

Cisco Systems, Inc. has announced that Cisco Application-Oriented Networking (AON), new technology that adds intelligence to the network, enabling the network to better understand business-application communications to support more effective and efficient business decisions.

Cisco's approach to AON is based on innovative new technology that moves beyond the packet level to read application-to-application messages flowing within the network--such as purchase orders, investment transactions, or shipment approvals. With AON, the network now speaks the language of applications. This new technology supports Cisco's vision for the Intelligent Information Network and is the first network-embedded intelligent message routing system that integrates application message-level communication, visibility, and security into the fabric of the network.

"The nature of the enterprise network is evolving from a low-function communication service to a high-function Enterprise Nervous System (ENS). This is changing application design and IT management practices in fundamental ways. In a conventional architecture, intelligent application systems interact through a low-function, fairly 'dumb' network. In an ENS-based architecture, by contrast, the network is as intelligent as the applications. The ENS offloads logic from the application systems by transforming and redirecting messages and providing other services as appropriate." Roy Schulte, Gartner, Inc. Vice President and Research Fellow.

Enterprise IT executives today are challenged with how to better secure, integrate, and optimize business applications to improve productivity and competitiveness. Unlike expensive ad hoc approaches, Cisco AON technology uses the intelligence and reach of the network to provide improved real-time visibility and responsiveness to rapidly changing business conditions.

Because it takes advantage of the existing network footprint, and requires no changes to existing applications, Cisco AON technology also provides excellent investment protection. In addition, by reducing the need for custom software development and extensive systems integration, the Cisco AON solution reduces cost and complexity, speeds application deployment, improves change management, and facilitates regulatory compliance.

The new family of Cisco AON products enables business applications and the network to work together as an integrated system. Announced today are Cisco AON modules for data center switches and for branch office routers.

The Cisco AON family complements current Cisco packet and content-aware products by providing true application message-level awareness of business applications. Beta customers are impressed with initial results and the potential they see for streamlining their business processes.

"We have been integrating closely with the Cisco AON solution to monitor and report on the transport and delivery of Financial Information Exchange (FIX) messages, a financial services industry standard protocol used by Radianz' customers for exchanging equity orders," says Brennan Carley, CTO at BT Radianz. "Historically, enterprises couldn't see beyond the network firewall and were essentially blind to factors affecting their business beyond that point. With this solution, our clients will gain much more granular information with the ability to see a FIX message leaving the firm, confirm it arrived at the trading partner, and see the time it took to complete the transaction."

To accelerate successful Cisco AON deployments, Cisco and its technology partners will provide a lifecycle portfolio of professional services that align customers' business and technical requirements through all six phases of the deployment lifecycle: prepare, plan, design, implement, operate and optimize, specifically designed for this new solution.

Cisco's AON approach is also based on collaborative efforts with industry leaders, such as IBM and SAP, which share its vision for helping customers to better manage business applications and business processes through network-embedded solutions.

"Two industry-leading companies, IBM and Cisco, are working together to help customers to become more flexible, to use their IT infrastructure in support of their business goals, helping them to become On-Demand businesses," said Robert LeBlanc, general manager, WebSphere, IBM Software Group. "IBM's collaborative efforts with Cisco in support of AON will allow WebSphere and Cisco customers to capitalize on this emerging architecture to reduce complexity, consolidate IT, and improve performance."

"As one of our key partners supporting the Enterprise Services Architecture (ESA), Cisco is working with SAP to integrate ESA with Application-Oriented Networking to deliver end-to-end solutions for enterprise data centers, branch offices, and small and midsize businesses," said George Paolini, executive vice president, Platform Ecosystem Development at SAP. "By combining ESA and AON with SAP Business One, SAP's simple yet powerful solution for small and midsize organizations, we will have the ability to deliver even more significant customer benefits for parent companies and their subsidiaries, such as improved application security, easier application deployment and even better integration, better business visibility, and network-based policy management."

In addition, Cisco is collaborating with EDS, SAIC, TIBCO Software, and Verisign, as well as innovative services and software firms, including: Actional, ConnecTerra, Contivo, CXO Systems, Infogain, ManTech, Trace Financial, and TransAct Tools to provide a broad range of Cisco AON solutions. Cisco also has created a full set of Cisco AON partner support, training, testing, certification, and marketing services to help fuel and sustain this ecosystem.

In 2003, Cisco began articulating a 3 to 5-year vision for developing an Intelligent Information Network by increasing network intelligence to create a more resilient, adaptive, and integrated framework for communications. Phase I is comprised of the integration of video, voice, and data across a system of networks, while Phase II adds the virtualization of networking, storage, server, and security services. Now, with AON, Cisco is introducing the third phase with intelligent network-based systems that enhance the communication, visibility, and security of business applications.