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BILLERICA, MA September 26, 2005 SilverBack® Technologies, Inc., the industrys leading provider of service delivery platforms that allow service providers to profitably enter the managed services business, today announced the SilverStreak Management Tunnel (SMT). The SMT is the industrys first fully secure, bi-directional communications mechanism that eliminates the need for traditional virtual private networks (VPN), reducing operations costs, assuring secure remediation and a faster problem resolution cycle.
Available as an add-on product to the companys flagship service delivery platform, the patent-pending SilverStreak Management Tunnel allows managed service providers (MSPs) and independent software vendors (ISVs) to provide secure remote monitoring, management and remediation to monitored IP devices. Remote management is possible without the traditional cost and labor and management associated with setting up individual VPN connections on a customer-by-customer basis.
For the first time, service providers can use a Web console and dynamic HTTPS connection to remotely administer client servers, routers, environmentals and critical applications. This on-demand remediation eliminates more than 90% of onsite visits, provides a faster and more accurate diagnosis and significantly increases first-call resolution.
This capability is exceptionally important considering the need to have an alternate means of connectivity that doesnt rely on a network connection, said James Carter, CTO of The Integration Works of Santa Ana, CA. For The Integration Works, however, the emphasis is on reducing operational support costs. We can cut back on the number of house calls we need to make since now a lot of standard remediation can be achieved remotely through the Tunnel. We can redeploy that extra time on strengthening client relationships and positioning ourselves as a true trusted advisor.
When MSPs receive an alarm from a client site whether its associated with email, a router, switch, firewall, application, database; or even an X-ray machine they can immediately initiate a secure tunnel to perform remote diagnosis and remediation without the need to reconfigure any firewalls. After the problem is resolved, the dynamic tunnel is torn down and new connections initiated to the next system requiring attention.
The Tunnel is also ideal for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs); hardware and other equipment vendors who have geographically dispersed customers that require remote support. Many of these vendors are exploring delivering their solutions as "software as a service." Because VPNs are labor-intensive and expensive, they are not always an optimal solution, as ISVs do not want to instrument anything at the client site.
Installing VPNs can be cumbersome and cost-prohibitive, not to mention insecure. SilverBacks Tunnel bypasses the need to install VPN clients so that we can focus on remotely managing our support needs and deliver proactive customer care at reduced operational costs, said Sam Straughan, Witt Biomedicals Vice President of Customer Services. Because our clients are hospitals, including large integrated delivery networks (IDNs), the ability to access critical applications on a 24x7x365 basis even in rare situations where network connectivity may be disrupted is also highly important.