ACE Battle Card

Ill add more servers to

address performance,
not application delivery
infrastructure

I dont think I need

application security,
I have firewalls

What It Is
The Cisco Application Control Engine (ACE) family of
products represents the next generation of application
switches for maximizing availability, acceleration, and
protection of key business applications like Oracle, SAP
and Microsoft. The industrys leading solution for green
Data Center Application Delivery, Cisco ACE is offered
in two form factors, a service module for the Catalyst
6500 switching family and a standalone appliance, both
delivering a unique set of features that can be leveraged by Enterprises and Service Providers to provide
significant cost savings when building flexible, secure
distributed, and highly available networked applications. ACE consolidates functionality such as server load
balancing, server off-loading and security into a single
device that supports the industry's highest performance
of up to 16 Gigabits per second (Gbps) of throughput
for the ACE Module and up to 4 Gigabits per second for
the ACE Appliance. Unique virtual partitioning capabilities, Role-Based Access Control (R-BAC) and upgrade
by software license, not forklift investment protection.
Some of the key capabilities that an ACE incorporates
follow:

Server load balancing: The intelligent distribution

of traffic across servers in a data center

Server offloading: Increases application server

capacity by offloading low-level communications
and SSL transaction tasks

We are experiencing
significant challenges
because of our limited
IT resources and OPEx

Application security: Protects applications from

application layer attacks and threats

Application acceleration: Optimizes HTML and

XML-based applications to improve end-user
performance by minimizing latency and data
transfers.

I already have
(Competitor product)
in my data center.
Why should I buy
Cisco?

I dont need all these

advanced capabilities
I just need to scale
my load balancing

Where It Fits
Cisco ACE Product Family: Comprehensive Application
Delivery for the Data Center
Data
Center #2

Virtual partitions: Allows one physical device to

act as many virtual devices with each partition
gets guaranteed device resources.

Enterprise customers with

Server farm(s)

Commercial/Mid-Market customers with servers

and third-party or in-house business applications.

Third-party or in-house business applications

Internet

Cisco ACE
XML Gateway

Common Objections
1.

Objection: Ill add more servers to address

performance, not application delivery
infrastructure.

Response: It is more cost-effective to deploy

high performance load balancers than new
servers to increase performance.

Existing deployments of a Cisco Application

Delivery Network Solutions (e.g... CSS, WASS)

Service Provider customers that

Data Center #1
Cisco ACE Module
for Catalyst 6500/
Cisco 7600

Cisco ACE
4710 Appliance

Target Customers
The ACE is targeted for enterprise and service provider
customers. While customers with 2 or more servers are
considered opportunities for an ACE sale, the following
offers more granular details regarding customers that
should be considered as sales candidates:

We need to be able to
consistently protect
data at the branch office
and the replication of
data amongst remote
data centers

2. Objection: I dont think I need application security,

I have firewalls.
Response: Basic firewalls dont fully protect
against application-layer attackstrue security is
L2-L7, a Cisco strength.

Support high traffic web portals

3. Objection: I dont need all these advanced capabilitiesI just need to scale my load balancing.

Offer hosted services

 esponse: Cisco has the highest performing

R
load balancing solutions in the industry (16 Gbps
for the ACE Module and 4 Gbps for the ACE
Appliance) and advanced features (virtual
partitioning).

ACE Battle Card

4. Objection: I Already have (Competitor product)
in my data center. Why should I buy Cisco?

 esponse: Cisco has the highest performing

R
application delivery solution with industry leading
capabilities (Virtual Partitioning). Cisco is the only
vendor that can offer an end-to-end solution with
world class support.

Business Benefits

Consolidation: One physical device partitioned to

multiple systems, few high performance devices

Resources: Assured resources for critical apps,

support for over-subscription. Allows resources
to be quickly and easily shifted to workload that
requires them. Better utilization of DC

Availability: Partitions are completely independent.

Misconfiguration of one does not affect operation
of other partition.

Increased utilization of network resources:

Can provide a more profitable return on the
network investment

Management: Simplified configuration per

PartitionProvisioning through XML API, Layer 7
policies delegation to Apps teams
Security: Highly Secured/Critical Application
Isolation, Simplified and Centralized Configuration

Industry Challenges

Who Do I Talk To in an Account When Selling ACE

Competition: Selling Against F5

The following identifies the individuals that have an impact

on decisions related to application delivery solutions. The
key point to note is that the Network Operations team and
the Director of IT are key constituents to satisfy during
the sales cycle. The Applications team and Security
Operations are decision influencers under certain
circumstances.

F5 Networks
Claim:

Director of IT: Influences all data center infrastructure

buying decisions
Key Concerns: Uptime, utilization, CAPEX,
OPEX, TCO

Security Operations: Influence infrastructure

decisions involving security

Applications Team: Usually influences deals only

if application acceleration or application security
are required

ACE InnovationInfrastructure Simplification

Deployments are often slow due to a complex

coordination in workflow
New services require new physical deployments
and dedicated resources
Complex, high-touch, inflexible, expensive
application infrastructure

The recent published market report

by Synergy Research Group has
stated that Cisco was the market
leader for 2007 and continues to lead
the market for the CY2008 Q1-Q2.
Cisco has been at the forefront of
developing end-to-end solutions as
corporate needs have changedthe
game is end-to-end

F5 is already in
my data center.
Why should I buy
Cisco?

Cisco is the only vendor that can offer

an end-to-end solution with industry
leading performance, unique features
and superior support

Security attacks can come at any

F5 has the most
layer in the network. Cisco is the
advanced L7
application security only vendor with true integrated
L2-L7 security
Ciscos Strengths Against F5 Networks
Performance: Security attacks can come at any
layer in the network. Cisco is the only vendor with
true integrated L2-L7 security.

F5 Weakness: Lower throughput and scale with

degradation under load for BIG-IP product line

Security: Full L2-L7 integrated security from a

trusted vendor

F5 Weakness: F5 focus is on application security.

Modern security is L2-L7, not just at the application layer

UNMATCHED Software License-Based Scalability

Complete Solution: Complete, end-to-end, fully

integrated data center/enterprise networking solution

ONLY

F5 Weakness: Must partner with multiple vendors

for a limited solution

MOST

Advanced Application Acceleration

ONLY

Virtualized Application Delivery Appliance with

Full Role-Based Administration

HIGHEST

Performance Application and Data Center Security

Physical resources end up being underutilized

Additional operational overhead required in
managing and maintaining separate physical
network devices

Gartner has stated

F5 is number one
in the application
delivery market

Network Operations: The key customer point

of contact for ACE sales opportunities
Key Concerns: Integration, deployment,
and manageability

Response:

Green Application Delivery Appliance

Additional Resources

ACE Web Site: http//www.cisco.com/go/ace

ACE CPOC Info: http://wwwin.cisco.com/WWSales/
wwops/wwse/cdp/cpoc

Copyright 2008 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco, Cisco IOS, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries.

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