The new service creates a global map of SaaS delays, interruptions and outages to help IT staff troubleshoot and record problems that violate service-level agreements.
Cisco has added a service that tracks and troubleshoots SaaS application performance to its ThousandEyes internet insights platform.
The service, launched this week, uses data collected by ThousandEyes to build a global map of real-time application outages. The goal is to speed up troubleshooting and track SaaS performance degradation that could violate service-level agreements.
ThousandEyes, acquired by Cisco in August 2020, has always focused on providing an outages map for internet areas that enterprises don't control. The new service uses the same telemetry to map SaaS applications.
The service map lets customers drill down into specific outages to determine their scope, the location of problem servers and the type of issues occurring.
A broad overview of SaaS outages is available on the general ThousandEyes internet map. However, the ability to monitor and troubleshoot SaaS troubles will require an additional license. Pricing will depend on the type of visibility a customer needs.
ThousandEyes competitors offering a similar SaaS service include Zscaler, Gigamon and NetScout, according to IDC analyst Mark Leary. However, those services tend to either focus on end-to-end visibility for a single application or run synthetic transactions to record performance.
Cisco ThousandEyes' internet outages map
ThousandEyes, on the other hand, aggregates the data from Cisco enterprise customers through thousands of daily tests on a range of SaaS applications, said Angelique Medina, head of product marketing at the company.
The latest service, called Application Outages, offers two significant benefits, Leary said. First is greater visibility that should speed up IT troubleshooting. Knowing the problem is with an application means IT staff can contact the service provider immediately.
Being able to measure the services you're getting from the service provider… goes a long way to helping you fix the problem in partnership with your service provider.
Mark LearyAnalyst, IDC
The second benefit is the ability to monitor application performance over time, Leary said. That lets companies develop a baseline for network performance, against which they can compare service providers.
"Being able to measure the services you're getting from the service provider… goes a long way to helping you fix the problem in partnership with your service provider," Leary said. He added that if the service provider can't fix the problem, then a company will have data to search for an alternative.
In other news, Cisco announced Tuesday that they would partner with Meta to develop and deploy two new switches, the Wedge 400 and Wedge 400C. The design, approved by the Open Compute Project, will use Cisco's Silicon One Q200L switching silicon to enable higher port density and improved performance.
Madelaine Millar is a news writer covering network technology at TechTarget. She has previously written about science and technology for MIT's Lincoln Laboratory and the Khoury College of Computer Science, as well as covering community news for Boston Globe Media. She is a graduate of Northeastern University, and originally hails from Missoula, Mont.
