TMCnet News
Internap Enhances Industry-Leading Service Level Agreements; Improved Metrics Cover Network Jitter, Installation Intervals and More ATLANTA --(Business Wire)-- May 25, 2004 -- Internap Network Services Corporation (AMEX: IIP), the leading provider of performance-based routing technology over the Internet, announced today that the company has enhanced its industry-leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs), establishing even higher standards for network performance, customer service, security and accountability.The enhanced SLAs define IP network performance necessary to support migration of key enterprise applications to the Internet. As a result, Internap's SLAs - which cover the entire Internet, rather than just one carrier's network - continue to support the highest quality IP services and network performance. One of the most significant new elements of Internap's SLAs will cover network jitter, a measure of the time variance between the delivery of packets of electronic data. Under the new SLA, Internap will guarantee average jitter of less than 0.5 milliseconds, along with latency of less than 45 milliseconds and less than 0.3 percent packet loss. Internap's SLAs also provide for 100 percent uptime across the entire Internet. The combination of these defined service levels are required for truly effective deployment of voice over IP (VoIP), streaming audio/video, real-time e-commerce and other high-demand applications. "While other carriers define measurement of jitter solely across their own network, Internap has set an industry standard, offering the best jitter and latency guarantees available across the entire Internet," noted Ali Marashi, Chief Technology Officer for Internap. "Together, low latency and jitter provide the ultimate platform for delay-sensitive data applications like VoIP and streaming media." While most carriers require customers to contact them whenever there is a problem, many of Internap's SLAs are proactive - meaning that Internap automatically begins problem resolution even before the customer is notified and initiates appropriate credits without customer action. Frequently, network problems can be identified and resolved even before the customer realizes a problem ever existed. "If the network is your company's lifeblood, you can't tolerate even a minute's failure," added David Frigeri, director of technical services for Internap. "Our Service Level Agreements are the most comprehensive in the industry and they reinforce and complement the most reliable network architecture in the business." Frigeri was recently named to the Federal Communications Commission's Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). Internap's new service level guarantees fall into several key areas, covering network performance; security & availability; and service & accountability. No other company in the industry offers such a broad range of guaranteed Internet performance. Specifically, Internap's SLAs cover: -- Network Performance: Internap's SLAs now guarantee 100 percent network availability; average jitter of 0.5 milliseconds or less; packet loss of less than 0.3 percent; and latency of less than 45 milliseconds. This SLA applies to the entire Internet, while traditional Network Service Providers (NSPs) assure performance only on their network. -- Security & Availability: While most Network Service Providers only cover installation to their network, Internap offers guaranteed installation intervals for the provisioning of transport services ranging from T-1 to Gigabit Ethernet, both on and off its network. New security- & availability-related SLA enhancements include: -- DNS availability guarantee. -- Denial of Service response guarantee: Denial of Service (DOS) - computerized "hacker attacks" against a company's web server - cost corporations millions of dollars each year, but they remain difficult problems to solve. Under its new SLA, Internap will respond and begin diagnostic testing to address a DOS attack within 10 minutes of a customer's request. -- Service & Accountability: Internap's existing SLA was already the most comprehensive in the industry, ensuring proactive response by Internap's Network Operations Centers (NOCs) and automatic credits. Under the new SLAs, the guarantees are even stronger. Service- & Accountability-related SLA enhancements include: -- Service point problem resolution time. -- Installation intervals for Ethernet and remote access services as well as IP port installation. -- Reason for Outage (RFO) guarantee: Internap will provide an official reason for outage within five days of a customer's request - or the customer will receive one day of their Monthly Recurring Port Charge (MRPC) for each day the response is late. -- Broader colocation power and security metrics: Under the new SLA, Internap provides enhanced benefits for customers who colocate their website at an Internap facility. -- Standard termination rights: No customer would want to be tied to a contract that isn't being serviced properly. Under the new SLAs, if a customer experiences repeated problems, they can terminate those services. Internap's network-of-networks architecture, intelligent route management technology and superior customer service provide world-class performance and the total cost advantages of running key business applications over the public Internet. Proactive monitoring and management from Internap's certified NOCs provide the support and response customers need to work through issues efficiently. The combination of Internap's patented route optimization technology, network infrastructure and industry-leading SLAs deliver unmatched quality and performance across the entire Internet. About Internap Internap is the market leader of intelligent route-control solutions that bring reliability, performance and security to the Internet. The company's patented and patent-pending technology address the inherent weaknesses of the Internet, enabling enterprises to take full advantage of the benefits of deploying business-critical applications such as e-commerce, Voice over IP (VoIP), video-conferencing, and streaming audio/video across the Internet. Through a portfolio of high-performance IP solutions, customers can bypass congestion points, overcome routing inefficiencies and optimize performance of their applications. Internap solutions are backed by an industry-leading performance guarantee that covers the entire Internet as opposed to just one network. These offerings include: network- and premise-based route optimization solutions, colocation, VPN, content distribution, managed security and managed storage services. Internap currently serves more than 1,700 customers including Fortune 1000 and mid-tier enterprises in the financial services, government; travel/hospitality, manufacturing, media/entertainment, technology and retail industries. The company provides services throughout the United States, United Kingdom and Japan. For more information, please visit the company website at www.internap.com. Internap and P-NAP are registered trademarks and Flow Control Platform is a trademark of Internap. All other trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. |
