Press Release

AUSTIN, Texas – August 26, 2008 – SolarWinds, the leader in downloadable network management software, today announced Orion Network Configuration Manager (NCM) v5, the latest release of its comprehensive network change and configuration management (NCCM) solution. Orion NCM v5, formerly known as Cirrus Configuration Manager, extends the flagship Orion software family’s powerful monitoring, alerting, and reporting capabilities and allows network engineers to proactively monitor enterprise-wide configuration health indicators alongside key network performance statistics.

Network performance and availability are important metrics for businesses of all sizes. Organizations cannot afford the productivity and revenue losses associated with network outages. According to industry consultancy Enterprise Management Associates, 70 percent of application problems and network downtime is caused by configuration changes and errors. With the proliferation of devices and explosive growth of networks, NCCM has become a more complex and more critical aspect of the overall network management function. To get the full value of their investment in this technology, network engineers must be able to make direct correlations between configuration changes and network events. SolarWinds has made this task easier by tightly integrating fault and performance management with configuration management in a single view.

"Managing the network is no longer just about monitoring performance metrics," said Kenny Van Zant, chief product strategist for SolarWinds. "Configuration management has always been an isolated capability, with poor integration into the monitoring systems network engineers use every day. SolarWinds is the first to integrate fault, performance and configuration management into a single solution that can scale to meet the needs of the enterprise, with the affordability and ease-of-use for which SolarWinds is famous."

Orion NCM v5 continuously monitors device configurations and provides policy violation detection to help network engineers stay on top of corporate standards and federal regulations such as HIPAA, SOX, CISP, PCI and Cisco Security Audit. The application also offers users:

• Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) integration – provides a single view through which network engineers can manage performance metrics alongside related configuration change information for a complete picture of the health of network elements.
• Intuitive, point- and- click web interface – supports the monitoring and management of enterprise-wide configuration health status including device details, configuration backups, scheduled job status, policy violations, and event history, all from a user-friendly web interface.
• Increased multi-vendor device support – offers built-in support for network devices from more than 16 hardware vendors, including Cisco, Nortel, Dell, HP and Extreme Networks. Multi-vendor device support extends to several new devices including Riverbed Steelhead, Cisco VPN Concentrators, 3Com, Dell PowerConnect Switches and many more.
• Real-time change notification – enables users to proactively maintain network availability through automated device change notifications. The real-time updates are delivered using the application’s built-in Syslog Server and SNMP Trap Server.

Orion NCM v5 is easy to afford, and its agentless architecture enables users to be up and running within an hour, without costly professional consultants.

Users can find more information, tips from SolarWinds company experts as well as peer support and perspectives on Orion NCM v5, at Thwack, the SolarWinds online community. Through integrated links, Orion NCM customers have the ability to search product forums, post questions, exchange custom scripts and templates, and immediately access valuable knowledge and resources directly from the community’s more than 17,000 members.

On Thursday, August 28, SolarWinds’ Head Geek, Josh Stephens will host a "Geek Speak" webcast on the value of integrated fault, performance and configuration management. For more information and to register for the "Reduce Network Firefighting: Integrate Fault, Performance, and Configuration Management" event, go to www.solarwinds.com/geek.

Pricing and Availability
Orion Network Configuration Manager v5 will be available in September 2008. Pricing starts at $2495, including the first year of maintenance. For more information, visit the SolarWinds website, view the Orion NCM v5 demo, or call 866.530.8100.

About SolarWinds
SolarWinds provides downloadable, enterprise-class network management software that is affordable, easy to use, and guided by a large and growing user community. Focused on the real-world needs of network professionals, SolarWinds products are simple to try, simple to use, and simple to maintain, while providing the power, scale, and flexibility needed by companies of all sizes. More than 50,000 customers from small businesses to the largest enterprises rely on SolarWinds products to take the complexity out of managing their networks. Learn more today at http://www.solarwinds.com.