Visionael Introduces Industrys First Unified Solution for Discovery of both Logical Topology and Physical Network Information: DataCentral Module Offers Time-to-Value in as Little as 90 Minutes

Visionael today launched DataCentral, the industrys first unified system for the autodiscovery, collection and validation/reconciliation of both logical topology and detailed physical network equipment information.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- December 17, 2002 -- Visionael(r), a leading provider of network resource management (NRM) software solutions, today launched DataCentral (tm), the industrys first unified system for the autodiscovery, collection and validation/reconciliation of both logical topology and detailed physical network equipment information. Customers can quickly realize the full value of DataCentral, discovering detailed information about all of the equipment and connectivity within a large network site and fully documenting that site in as little as 90 minutes(1).

DataCentral builds on Visionaels market-leading physical discovery technology that has been proven in large networking environments since 1998. DataCentral works seamlessly with Visionaels core NRM platform, Visionael 6, so that topology and physical data captured in DataCentral can be leveraged to support inventory, network engineering and change management processes(2). With DataCentral, network outsourcers, large enterprises/government agencies, service providers and managed services providers (MSPs) can readily visualize discovered assets, which are then represented in physical or logical views with detailed configuration attributes. They can also augment DataCentral by leveraging Visionaels off-the-shelf integrations with other best-in-class solutions such as Micromuse NetCool, HP OpenView and CiscoWorks RME.

Network inventory, change management and operations processes are accelerated and their cost structure substantially lowered when all network discovery is automated," said Mike Jude, senior analyst, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA). Visionael DataCentral has the potential to render manual auditing and connectivity tracing obsolete."

Visionaels existing physical data collection capabilities lead the market with the discovery and validation/reconciliation of new or existing physical network assets across multiple vendors, thus slashing the time and cost of populating existing network infrastructures in the system. Enhanced configuration device intelligence modules (DIMs) allow data to be collected at the greatest level of granularity. Building on this market momentum, the new DataCentral module can also quickly gather detailed logical connectivity data from the network by reading routing and bridge tables directly from network devices. Visionaels Exception Management process then efficiently manages the validation/reconciliation of discovered elements and topology against the as-built" network model stored in the Visionael Repository, guaranteeing the most accurate network information available.

DataCentral will be generally available in mid-January 2003. Existing Visionael customers can advance their existing data collection utilities by upgrading to DataCentral/Topology to include IP connectivity discovery. New Visionael customers will be offered the combined logical and physical discovery capabilities of the full DataCentral module. For pricing or additional information please contact Visionael at 877-847-0100 or info@visionael.com.

About Visionael
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Visionael drives down the cost of network resource management (NRM) with NRM solutions for IP-centric networks. Visionael solutions empower outsourcers, large enterprises and service providers to discover, document, design, deploy, provision and operate mission-critical networks. Visionael, recognized as one of UPSIDE magazines Hot 100" private companies, has more than 50 outsourcer, enterprise, government and service provider customers. For more about Visionael, please visit www.visionael.com or call 650.470.8920. In Europe, please contact Visionael SARL in Paris at +33 140.71.28.28 or emea@visionael.com.

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Note to Editors:
Visionael (r), the Visionael logo, DataCentral, WebCentral, APIcentral and ServiceBase are trademarks of Visionael Corporation. All other companies and products referenced herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

(1)Large campus with a diversity of discovered elements including servers, desktops, switches and routers (including Cisco Catalyst), discovered and documented in 85 minutes by a Visionael user in November 2002.
(2)DataCentral/Topology works exclusively in conjunction with DataCentral/Physical.