Latest news with #SteelHead
Channel Post MEA
21-05-2025
- Business
- Channel Post MEA
Riverbed Equips Channel Partners with AI-Ready Infrastructure and Agile Acceleration Solutions
Ghassan Abou Rjeily, senior manager for Channel Sales and alliances—GCC at Riverbed, and Shaik Asif, Regional Sales Director, Acceleration, EMEA & APJ at Riverbed, highlight how the company empowers channel partners with AI-ready infrastructure and advanced Acceleration solutions, boosting performance and scalability while offering flexible licensing and regional GTM support. How is Riverbed helping its channel partners adapt to the growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure, and how do the new Acceleration solutions contribute to this transformation? Ghassan Abou Rjeily: AI, at its core, is about data – and when it comes to data, quality and speed win. Our new Acceleration solutions are designed precisely to help our partners and their customers keep pace with the growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure. The goal isn't just to move data faster, but to capture and process it with greater fidelity, ensuring that vital information is not missed. The better the data, the better the output from AI models, leading to sharper decisions and improved business outcomes. Our partners recognise this. Many are actively evolving their own systems, from ERP to procurement, to incorporate AI and are taking these real-world experiences to their customers. They don't want to just pitch a product; they want to present a roadmap, a future-proof strategy, and they need infrastructure that will support that. Our newly launched Acceleration solutions support this ambition by ensuring that enterprise and AI applications – many of which are generating massive volumes of data across clouds, data centres and the edge – can operate with the performance, agility and resilience required. For partners, it's a way to stay relevant, add value, and build long-term trust with customers navigating the AI shift. In what ways do Riverbed's new Acceleration solutions enhance the ability of partners to deliver measurable value to enterprise customers, particularly in large-scale or complex environments? Shaik Asif: In the age of AI and hyperscale environments, network congestion is more than an inconvenience – it's a critical business risk. Poor data flow can bottleneck operations and undermine even the best AI strategies. This is where our Acceleration solutions come into play. These tools give partners the capability to build high-performance, scalable networks that support modern, data-intensive applications across increasingly complex IT environments. The portfolio is comprehensive – SteelHead for traditional optimisation, SteelHead Cloud for cloud-based workloads, SteelHead SaaS for application acceleration, and SteelHead Mobile for the remote workforce. In short, whatever the environment, Riverbed can support it. Crucially, these solutions are platform-agnostic. Whether it's satellite links in remote operations, MPLS in legacy environments, or connectivity between cloud and branch offices, our acceleration technologies fit. And with the newly announced Riverbed Flex, we've added a mobility licensing model that eliminates the need to purchase new licences when upgrading hardware. It's a cost-efficient, low-friction approach that empowers partners to better serve enterprise customers while deepening their presence in complex accounts. Can you elaborate on how Riverbed's Flex subscription model supports partners in building sustainable recurring revenue streams across hybrid deployment scenarios? Ghassan Abou Rjeily: Flexibility is no longer a nice-to-have – it's a strategic necessity. Riverbed Flex is built with that mindset, offering customers a highly adaptable subscription model that aligns perfectly with today's hybrid deployment strategies. The standout feature of Flex is its simplicity—it allows customers to transition licences between hardware, virtual, and cloud platforms. They can scale capacity up or down, upgrade devices without forfeiting licences, and pilot deployments without committing to massive upfront investments. This is especially relevant in the MEA region, where organisations typically take a more agile, self-directed approach to transformation – often without external consultants. Here, progress tends to be incremental. Flex supports that evolution, allowing partners to guide customers through gradual adoption and expansion, all while preserving investment value. For partners, this means more than just a one-off sale. It's an opportunity to build lasting relationships grounded in recurring revenue, mutual growth, and trusted advisory. The subscription model becomes a vehicle for long-term value creation. How does license portability across hardware, virtual, and cloud platforms impact partner flexibility and competitiveness in today's evolving IT landscape? Shaik Asif: License portability is often overlooked, yet it's one of the most powerful enablers of agility in today's hybrid world. With Riverbed Flex, partners are no longer tethered to a particular platform or forced into rigid procurement cycles. Instead, they can seamlessly shift workloads across environments—from physical infrastructure to the cloud—without incurring the overhead of new licences. This not only simplifies IT operations but also offers a clear competitive edge. It allows partners to respond faster, deliver more flexible solutions, and help their customers future-proof their infrastructure without locking them in. What unique opportunities do you see for Riverbed partners to drive growth in high-demand sectors such as AI, oil & gas, and financial services with your network performance and data synchronization solutions? Ghassan Abou Rjeily: Oil & Gas and financial services represent two ends of a very demanding spectrum, and Riverbed's Acceleration technology is uniquely positioned to serve both. In Oil & Gas, we often deal with bandwidth constraints due to remote or satellite-based connectivity. In finance, every millisecond of latency can translate into a significant monetary impact. What unites both is the need for fast, reliable, and optimised data delivery. Acceleration is fundamental in these cases – it allows organisations to operate effectively, even in challenging network environments. And if it works in such extremes, it's not difficult to see its relevance in the many industries that fall somewhere in between. For partners, that breadth of applicability translates to a major growth opportunity. Whether it's AI, energy, financial services, or any data-driven industry, the demand for performance at scale is only increasing, and at Riverbed, our solutions are purpose-built to meet these needs. What specific go-to-market (GTM) support and enablement resources are available for channel partners in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region? Shaik Asif: Success in the MEA region requires local nuance as much as it does global scale. Our partner enablement strategy recognises and addresses this. We offer easy access to educational resources that enhance both technical expertise and commercial acumen. But we also go further. Our solutions are available on AWS and Azure marketplaces – which significantly speeds up procurement and simplifies deployment for both partners and customers. We also understand the value of localisation. For example, in regions like North Africa, where French is widely spoken, we're developing sales enablement content in French, leveraging our teams in France. Similarly, we're producing Arabic materials for our Middle Eastern partners. It's a targeted approach, grounded in understanding the real-world context our partners operate in. How is Riverbed incentivizing its channel ecosystem in MEA to accelerate deal velocity, improve sales performance, and deepen strategic customer relationships? Ghassan Abou Rjeily: We take a focused approach to partnership. Rather than spreading ourselves thin across a vast ecosystem, we're working closely with a select group of partners who are committed to going deep with our portfolio. To support this, we offer robust deal registration and protection. If a partner brings an opportunity to the table, they know their margin is safe. That clarity and assurance are critical in enabling partners to invest confidently in the sales cycle. Ultimately, our incentive strategy is designed to foster trust, encourage long-term collaboration, and help our partners not just win deals – but build enduring customer relationships based on strategic value. 0 0
TECHx
14-05-2025
- Business
- TECHx
Riverbed Unveils Advanced SteelHead Solutions with RiOS 10
Home » Emerging technologies » Networking » Riverbed Unveils Advanced SteelHead Solutions with RiOS 10 Riverbed has announced a major update to its acceleration portfolio, introducing ten new Riverbed SteelHead solutions powered by the next-generation RiOS 10 software. The launch marks the company's most comprehensive acceleration release in seven years, aimed at enhancing enterprise network performance, security, and agility. According to Riverbed, the new offerings support the movement of enterprise data across connected clouds, data centers, and the edge. The solutions are available via the new Riverbed Flex subscription, which offers greater architectural freedom, license portability, and improved total cost of ownership. The company stated that network demand continues to rise, with data volumes growing by 35% annually. A recent ESG report noted that 91% of IT leaders now consider AI a major factor in network planning, operations, and acceleration. Dave Donatelli, CEO of Riverbed, commented that AI and data-intensive applications are driving new demands for network performance. He reported that the company's acceleration business saw 59% year-over-year bookings growth in Q1. He added that the new SteelHead solutions will help customers move data faster, optimize application performance, and increase resilience. Riverbed also unveiled the SteelHead 90 Series appliances, built to deliver resilient performance and security. The new RiOS 10 software includes updates such as post-quantum cryptography and confidential computing, improving data delivery across cloud and edge environments. Key features include: SteelHead 8090 : Delivers up to 60 Gbps optimized WAN throughput, supporting multiple 100 GB network interfaces. : Delivers up to 60 Gbps optimized WAN throughput, supporting multiple 100 GB network interfaces. SteelHead 6090, 4090, and 2090: Offer throughput options from 20 Gbps to 200 Mbps, targeting mid-scale data centers and edge deployments. Chalan Aras, SVP and GM of Acceleration at Riverbed, said network congestion is now a serious threat to business continuity. He emphasized that the new SteelHead solutions are built to handle growing data volumes while maintaining agility and performance. In addition, SteelHead Virtual, compatible with VMware ESXI, KVM, and Microsoft Hyper-V, is now available for private cloud environments. Riverbed also introduced SteelHead RS, a new software for edge computing that enables near real-time data sync between edge and data center environments. The company reported that SteelHead Cloud, also powered by RiOS 10, is now supported on AWS, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Google Cloud Platform. It offers up to 20 Gbps data movement, significantly improving application delivery speed and reducing cloud costs. Riverbed's new Flex subscription allows customers to shift licenses across hardware, virtual, and cloud platforms. This model supports dynamic scaling and hardware upgrades as new technologies become available. Jim Frey, Principal Analyst at ESG, noted that AI workloads are increasing the importance of network optimization. He said Riverbed's latest offerings directly address the evolving performance, security, and observability needs of enterprise IT. Riverbed confirmed that these enhancements reinforce its mission to help enterprises adapt to data growth and the demands of AI with high-performance, secure, and flexible network acceleration.
Techday NZ
14-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Riverbed expands acceleration platforms to meet rising AI demand
Riverbed has introduced an updated portfolio of acceleration platforms and services aimed at improving enterprise network performance, security, and agility in response to a surge in data-heavy artificial intelligence deployments. The expanded range features ten new SteelHead acceleration solutions powered by the latest iteration of Riverbed's RiOS software, RiOS 10. These solutions are designed to enhance the transfer and security of data across cloud environments, data centres, and edge locations. The update also includes the launch of Riverbed Flex, a new subscription model that enables clients to transition licenses across hardware, virtual, and cloud deployments and scale capacity according to business requirements. According to Riverbed, the roll-out comes after a 59% increase, year-on-year, in bookings for its Acceleration business, amid growing demand from enterprises deploying artificial intelligence solutions that produce and process significant volumes of data. Industry data highlighted by Riverbed shows global networks experiencing annual increases of 35% in data volume, putting strain on existing infrastructure. Research from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) indicates that 91% of IT leaders see AI as a factor making network acceleration solutions essential, while 85% believe AI is directly influencing network planning and operations. As enterprise data creation and use by AI applications rises, network capacity and speed have become key concerns for IT teams. Dave Donatelli, Chief Executive Officer at Riverbed, commented: "Riverbed was founded 23 years ago this month with a focus on accelerating applications and the movement of data over networks. AI and data-hungry applications have introduced new and more demanding network requirements. I'm proud that Riverbed continues to solve our customers' most critical challenges, as demonstrated today by our largest Acceleration launch in seven years. In the first quarter of this year, we saw strong demand in our Acceleration business, achieving 59% year-over-year bookings growth. These new solutions build on our momentum and deliver a proven return on investment by helping customers move data faster, optimise application performance, and strengthen business resilience." RiOS 10 introduces architectural enhancements designed to support cloud computing, data centre operations, and edge deployments, with new provisions for post-quantum cryptography, platform security, and confidential computing. The SteelHead 90 series includes models tailored for specific deployment needs, such as the Data Centre-ready CXA-8090, capable of delivering up to 60 Gbps of data movement over optimised WANs, and the CXA-2090, intended for edge locations. SteelHead 6090 targets mid-size data centres with up to 20 Gbps of optimised data movement, while SteelHead 4090 and 2090 address mid-sized data centre and edge cases, supporting accelerated traffic loads of 500 Mbps and 200 Mbps, respectively, and up to 10 Gbps of traffic for application classification requirements. Chalan Aras, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Acceleration at Riverbed, stated: "Network congestion is no longer just a nuisance—it's a choke point that can cripple a business. Without fast and efficient data movement over networks, enterprises will quickly find themselves falling behind, missing out on the promise of AI. Riverbed's new resilient networking solutions help organisations stay ahead of the curve by securely managing growing data volumes and application performance demands, while also improving IT agility to support the dynamic demands of cloud, data centre and edge computing." For workloads in virtualised environments, RiOS 10 also powers SteelHead Virtual, a software-only solution compatible with VMware ESXI, KVM, and Microsoft Hyper-V and aimed at private cloud deployments. Riverbed also announced SteelHead RS, a software offering developed to support edge computing operations by enabling near real-time synchronisation with data centres, local processing, and consistency across distributed locations. SteelHead Cloud, also powered by RiOS 10, expands compatibility to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Google Cloud Platform. The new solution is available via each provider's marketplace and is designed to support enterprise data and application transfers at up to 20 Gbps. Jim Frey, Principal Analyst for Networks at Enterprise Strategy Group, shared: "AI initiatives are increasing the criticality of network performance, requiring reduced latency, increased bandwidth, and richer network observability. While performance can be improved by upgrading network gear and external services, organisations should also prioritise continuous optimisation of network connections. These are all requirements that Riverbed's resilient networking solutions address for successfully supporting growing AI workloads." The Riverbed Flex subscription model has been designed to give businesses flexibility, investment protection, and ease of scalability by allowing dynamic license reassignment and hardware upgrades in line with evolving IT requirements. Dr. Alexei Vederko, Senior Director of Engineering at Viasat Energy Services, remarked: "Riverbed Flex allows us to continue to manage our network performance in a smarter, more agile way - exactly what we need in the fast-moving world of offshore operations. With rigs constantly relocating, IT must scale, move, and optimise network acceleration on demand. The Flex model allows us to replace and upgrade hardware: minimising risk when equipment is lost or outdated. As a long-time SteelHead customer, our work with Riverbed allows us to effectively deliver critical data to our oil platforms and ensure operational resiliency. Riverbed Flex is a further step forward in future proofing our network with greater flexibility and control." The newly announced solutions are expected to be generally available in May 2025. Additional features, including some capabilities for post-quantum cryptography and expanded cloud support, are anticipated to be introduced in the second half of 2025.
