Several companies out there offer WAN optimization as a service – which is good for consumers, in the end.

That is because WAN optimization as a service accelerates a broad range of applications accessed by distributed enterprise users via eliminating redundant transmissions, staging data in local caches, compressing and prioritizing data. WAN optimization also helps businesses avoid packet delivery issues common in shared WAN environments, like MPLS and Internet VPNs.

But while most optimization companies offer accelerators supporting optimization for all TCP & UDP (News - Alert) based applications.

But Expand Network’s offerings enable VoIP and Video Conferencing, Expand is focused on Enabling Branch Office Server Consolidation, Application Delivery and Desktop / Application Virtualization, all on a single platform; delivering optimized benefits before, during and after your branch office IT consolidation projects.

Expand’s Virtual Accelerator solution is a cost effective alternative for customers who are implementing server consolidation and migrating to a virtual environment. Customers can mix and match between virtual and physical Accelerators and our Mobile Accelerator Client (MACC) is managed and terminated on the same platform.

Riverbed (News - Alert), one of Expand’s competitors, offers a similar product which functions slightly differently, meaning that it suffers from TCP scaling limitations. Riverbed’s offerings also require a multi appliance solution at the datacenter and appliances for small data centers.

But there are other drawbacks to Riverbed’s platform.

As branch and mobile users are increasingly using application based on UDP traffic types (including VoIP, video and streaming applications), Riverbed’s sole focus is TCP -- this leaves these traffic types with no optimization or priority across the WAN.

Certain applications require more than just port based recognition; these traffic types need to be discovered, monitored and prioritized at L-7.

Expand is able to meet this challenge with a built-in L-7 QoS engine working both inbound and outbound, with or without a remote appliance.

In the end, Expand’s technology is a standards-based, tightly integrated, multi-service platform that delivers the complete Application Acceleration solution. The platform is both open and scalable, allowing future technologies to easily integrate with all of the other Expand services currently available.