Cisco on November 18 announced that eight additional service providers are delivering powerful new application acceleration and wide area network (WAN) optimization managed services based on the Cisco Wide Area Application Services (WAAS) network module of the Cisco Integrated Services Router (ISR).

WAN optimization has experienced a rapid market adoption rate and more service providers are now offering it as a managed service to enterprises of all sizes and helping them to solve information technology (IT) challenges such as branch office application performance, remote backup and server consolidation.

By offering a new Empowered Branch solution through managed WAN optimization services in the past six months, Alestra, AT&T, NTT, Telefônica Brasil, Telstra, TELUS, T-Systems (Deutsche Telekom's business unit) and Verizon Business built on the capacity of their existing WAN infrastructures to deliver a service that addresses customer demand for high-performance centralized applications. These managed WAAS service providers increase their value to customers by reducing the required capital outlay for equipment and staffing and by enabling a centralized application to be delivered at the level of end-user-required performance. Please see service provider quote sheet.

"With our Cisco ISR-based managed service from TELUS, we provide our branch office employees with the same access to and performance experience with IT tools and applications as if they were right at corporate headquarters," said Doug Pettapiece, director of systems for Finning (Canada). "Previously we struggled to provide adequate connectivity to our growing base of branch offices. Now, TELUS seamlessly provides our branch offices with managed unified communication and WAAS services that also help us lower total cost of ownership."

Cisco also announced:

Cisco Empowered Branch Managed Services Portfolio Blueprint: A comprehensive service offering blueprint delivered through Cisco's worldwide teams to service creation consultants. The blueprint assists service providers in envisioning their managed services portfolio for the Empowered Branch.

Cisco 800 Series ISR Validated Design Implementation Guide: An architectural design for the deployment of the Cisco 800 Series Integrated Services Router in a managed services environment. The guide is designed to help providers reduce the time it takes to technically design and build their managed service solutions for the Empowered Branch.

As the industry's most comprehensive integrated managed service solution, the Cisco managed Empowered Branch solution also includes managed unified communications, Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking, wireless LAN, and 3G wireless WAN services. Cisco also today announced that Cybera and Elisa Oyj are providing their customers with multiple services from Cisco's Empowered Branch portfolio such as voice, security, quality of service (QoS), wireless LAN, and wireless WAN. These services have been validated to work together in both wired and wireless-based managed services offerings.