Riverbed tops WAN optimisation controller market

Riverbed Technology remains in first place in the WAN optimisation controller, (WOC) market for the seventh consecutive quarter, according to research firm Gartner.

The report titled, Market Share: Application Acceleration Equipment, Worldwide, 1Q08, showed that Blue Coat had moved from third place into second on the back of a strong first quarter.

According to Gartner, the AP WOC category, which is most relevant to Riverbed WDS (wide-area data services) products, includes WOCs that address multiple WAN problems including limited bandwidth and excessive latency.

"WDS deployments have moved far beyond the tactical to the strategic, with a great many large enterprise customers deploying Riverbed solutions at 50 to over 500 locations," said Eric Wolford, senior vice president, marketing and business development at Riverbed.

The study further revealed that Blue Coat has grown its market share from the end of 2007 through to the first quarter of this year. The company's improvement was in contrast to that of its competitors which experienced a decrease in revenue. The report went on to show that Packeteer, recently acquired by Blue Coat, achieved the strongest percentage growth of the vendors canvassed in the study. Packeteer finished fourth in terms of market share.

"Our approach to WAN optimisation with integrated security and control clearly resonates with enterprises and large organisations," said Bethany Mayer, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Blue Coat Systems.