NetQoS: Powering CA's Network Assurance Solution

Back in September 2009, we mentioned that CA, Inc. had acquired network monitoring solution provider NetQoS, but we didn’t hear much after that. Seeking answers, I spoke with NetQoS and CA about the acquisition, what NetQoS brought to the table, and what they can offer a managed services provider.

Founded in 1999, the Texas-based NetQoS quickly made a name for itself with the then-innovative retrospective approach to network monitoring and analysis, meaning users could look and see how the network was doing at a given date and time, not just at the present moment, says Mike Magri, director of industry solutions for NetQoS.

By the mid-2000’s, NetQoS and their Performance Center started to garner notice for its rapid growth and pioneering technology.

So when CA decided to expand their  Network Assurance portfolio, it was only natural that they looked to business with NetQoS. CA would get network traffic analysis and network application awareness products to add to their network monitoring solution, says Steve Guthrie, senior principal of product marketing for CA.

For their part, NetQoS would be able to leverage CA’s sales and support infrastructure to close deals and keep customers. In September of 2009, the acquisition went through for $200 million in cold hard cash.

The MSP Angle

So what does all this mean for MSPs? Simple, says NetQoS’s Magri – services providers now have a top to bottom solution for keeping track of increasingly complex networks through CA.

The current version of NetQoS Performance Center is aimed at helping IT pros figure out how best to handle networks that now have to handle virtualized applications, collaboration suites, VoIP, and any number of other bandwidth-heavy applications. As CA’s Guthrie points out, a more efficiently-managed network is a more cost-effective one, and besides, someone has to service their network if it turns out to need optimization.

In my favorite simile ever, Magri says that trying to compete with other network management firms and MSPs in that space was like a “knife fight in a phone booth.” What that means is that NetQoS relies entirely on their channel partners to sell to enterprises with seats in the double digits.

Stay tuned as I keep an eye on NetQoS and the broader application performance market.