ZipTie Open Source Network Management Project Adds Enterprise-Class Capabilities: Enhanced Scalability and Security Provide Compelling Alternative to Proprietary Tools

AlterPoint, Inc., a leading provider of network governance software, today announced the latest release of the ZipTie open source project. In response to the growing demands of the ZipTie user community, and the increased involvement of network equipment vendors, the project has evolved into an enterprise-class management system that supports hundreds of users, scales to thousands of devices and significantly improves security, giving large enterprises a viable alternative to closed, vendor-centric element management systems.

AUSTIN, Texas (BusinessWire EON) September 25, 2007 -- AlterPoint, Inc., a leading provider of network governance software, today announced the latest release of the ZipTie open source project. In response to the growing demands of the ZipTie user community, and the increased involvement of network equipment vendors, the project has evolved into an enterprise-class management system that supports hundreds of users, scales to thousands of devices and significantly improves security, giving large enterprises a viable alternative to closed, vendor-centric element management systems.

The appeal of open source software and community-based development is certainly not limited to small networks and basic inventory features

Originally launched as an open, network inventory management framework, ZipTie has developed into a comprehensive toolkit for network operations for complex, distributed network environments. Over the last three months, the project has gained significant momentum, doubling its user base to more than 6,000 and attracting network administrators from large enterprises.

The advanced capabilities of the ZipTie 2007.09 release provide increased standardization, scalability and security as follows:

• A centralized user authentication mechanism that ensures appropriate access to network assets, ensuring a single point of control over network device access and operations management
• A centralized server that provides a common management platform for network administrators, eliminating siloed network operations and improving accuracy and control
• An “open network model” that normalizes disparate network configuration data into a standardized inventory database, eliminating the need for vendor specific tools and skills
• Improvements to the ZipTie Development Environment that enable network equipment providers and community members to build open device adapters, tools and applications which will be available to the entire ZipTie community

As a result of these newly released features, ZipTie can now scale to more than 100 simultaneous users and 10,000 managed devices, providing a robust, open source alternative to proprietary element management systems.

“The appeal of open source software and community-based development is certainly not limited to small networks and basic inventory features,” said Kartick Suriamoorthy, ZipTie’s community manager. “ZipTie users have been loud and clear about this and have helped shape the future direction of this project to include more valuable enterprise-class capabilities.”

In a related announcement, AlterPoint and a number of industry-leading network equipment vendors, including Citrix Systems, Force10 Networks, Fortinet, Juniper Networks, Radware, Riverbed Technology and Vyatta, announced today the ZipTie Open Network Alliance, a group of like-minded technology vendors committed to promoting open manageability and interoperability of multi-vendor networks through the ZipTie community.

The latest release of ZipTie is available for download at www.ziptie.org.

About ZipTie

In November of 2006, AlterPoint sponsored the ZipTie open source project and contributed code under the Mozilla Public License (MPL) to offer an open framework for multi-vendor network inventory management to help network administrators and engineers, hardware vendors and software developers break free of limited, proprietary hardware element management systems. To download the ZipTie toolkit, or for more information about ZipTie, please visit www.ziptie.org.

About AlterPoint, Inc.

AlterPoint network governance solutions optimize network spend and better align IT with business imperatives. The world’s most respected enterprises rely on AlterPoint to curb hardware over-provisioning, reduce specialized labor, lower the cost of compliance, and improve the availability of network services. AlterPoint’s open, comprehensive network CMDB combines operational and business data to automate, analyze and optimize network change, compliance, security and equipment lifecycles. Multiple stakeholders benefit from AlterPoint’s customizable analytics and dashboards for impact assessment, faster troubleshooting, compliance scorecards and trend analysis. Founded in 2001, AlterPoint is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, please visit www.alterpoint.com.

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