Network Control Data:What is it and Why is it ImportantChallenges & Benefi ts

The process of analyzing the data involved with network transactions poses a host of issues. Tom Tortolani, VP Product Management at Skytide, shares his thoughts about the potential value this data offers and the challenges organizations face in unlocking and using the intelligence hidden within the data.

Q: What is network control data and why is it important?

Control data is literally the “bits & bytes” that surround the content delivered across a network, made up of the details of the transaction itself – from beginning to end. It can provide the context of the actual content delivery process. For example, control data can identify who accesses the network content, how often it was accessed, download times, originating and ending points, and even how it is used. Control data is generated as result of the content’s journey – the “network exhaust” – and holds a wealth of information related to the specifi cs of every network-related transaction.

Q: What type of content is included?

Networks are transmitting a wide range of content, with the diversity and volume of this content on the sharp rise. Popular consumer-oriented content ranges from video, fl ash, video, music, and HTTP fi les, to interactive chat sessions. Corporate entities are more interested in moving online text and display ads as well as video. And, every industry has content specifi c to that business. An energy company may be moving packets of energy metering data along with actual transmission of power, while fi nancial institutions perform real-time trading submissions and process online applications. The list of content is virtually endless.

The one common element is that a network – the Internet or an internal, private network – is increasingly the critical transmission source for content that drives these businesses forward. We are seeing that as the critical nature of the network to business success increases, so does the diffi culty in accessing and understanding the details of this network traffi c in a timely, meaningful way. This poses a critical problem for today’s businesses.

Q: Why is it diffi cult for companies to analyze this network control data?

Traditional BI tools that perform analytics atop relational data stored in a database or data warehouse break down when faced with this type of data. The data is coming across much too fast, at too high a volume, and in such complex, diverse and changing formats that it becomes a very costly, labor-intensive and time consuming process. More often than not, this valuable control data is either stored and ignored, or simply deleted.

Q: What specifi c intelligence can be gained from analyzing network control data?

The data can be applied to various business areas. It can provide greater visibility into how content is being used as well as network performance metrics — all over time

About the AuthorTom has nearly 20 years of technology product management experience, having worked for several successful Silicon Valley software companies. At Skytide, Tom is responsible for identifying market and customer demands, translating them into product requirements, defi ning the product and packaging strategy, and bringing new products to market.

Prior to Skytide Tom was responsible for bringing leading-edge products to market for two start-up companies, Provato, and Aceva Technologies. He was ond of the fi rst employees at Hyperion Solutions/Arbor Software, where he was a key contributor to the creation of the BI and OLAP industry, successfully managing multiple product lines and more than 20 product releases. Tom is the primary inventor on US patent 6,317,750 for advanced multi-dimensional navigational techniques.

T e c h S p o t l i g h t

About SkytideSkytide delivers business analytical solutions that provide timely and unprecedented insight into the constantly changing environment in which today’s businesses operate. The XML-based Skytide Analytical Platform is the fi rst and only solution available today that can understand complex data from virtually any source and any volume, delivering the visibility necessary to make timely business decisions. Skytide customers include Fortune 1000 companies across a wide range of application areas including network services, contact centers, and other areas of business that generate signifi cant volumes of mission-critical unstructured and semi-structured data. Founded in 2003, Skytide is a privately held, venture-backed company headquartered in California’s Silicon Valley.

and by unique segments. For example, analysis of network control data could provide historical views of the number of requests for individual or groups of content; aggregate results of time to download content; reveal average performance per transaction; identify unique users, etc.

Without the ability to review the data over time, it is impossible to understand the complexities of any content access patterns or to verify network performance delivery. Business are then left to base decisions on an incomplete picture of how its services are being promoted, sold, delivered and used.

Q: What is one example of how network control data analysis can benefi t an organization?

The ability to analyze IP addresses alludes many organizations, primarily due to the extremely high number of individual IP addresses present on any network — millions of IP addresses generating network traffi c resulting in petabytes of network control data daily — along with data format complexity. This is the type of data that cannot be analyzed with any conventional tool; traditional analytical tools break down when they have to process data segmentation across millions of buckets such as IP addresses.

The Skytide Analytical Platform™ gives users the ability to aggregate IP addresses and perform analysis across unique segments, allowing users to track access to network content — video, or even applications – by individual requestor, by region, all over time. Add to this the power of Skytide to associate an IP address to a defi ned entity, such as company, and the value increases as users can now track content patterns by named customers, prospects, or even competitors.

The results from this type of analysis can be immediately applied to tactical and strategic actions. Perhaps marketing messages need to be changed, sales activity concentrated on an underperforming region, or a new competitive product offering reviewed more closely. Comprehensive analysis of the IP address history can provide valuable insights into strategic and tactical business decisions across the organization.

Q: Why can Skytide perform this type of analysis?

Skytide offers several technological breakthroughs in how it makes possible high volume network control data intelligence. First, Skytide links directly to data sources, in this case IP address log fi les, without requiring the data be put into a relational structure. This represents a signifi cant time savings versus traditional BI systems.

Additionally, Skytide uses XML as a common fi le format layer, making possible to easily correlate and join multiple fi le formats together. In the previous example, Skytide can match IP addresses to known entities, thus analysis reveals usage by specifi c organizations. Skytide also persists aggregated results along with associated data in its analytical models that are only a small fraction of a size of source data. This severely reduces storage requirements, and speeds processing time. Skytide also provides fl exible ad-hoc query options which can quickly be adapted to using drag & drop GUIs to accept new data sources or new queries.

Put Skytide to Work for You

Discover how the Skytide Analytical Platform can uncover the power of your data. Contact us today at info@skytide.com or 650.292.1900.

“Netli selected Skytide because it provides the unique ablilty to rapidly process large volumes of data and enables compelling visibliity through advanced analytics at a signifi cantly lower TCO as compared to alternative and traditional analytical solutions.”

Sr. Director, Product Manaement, Netli

© 2007 Skytide, Inc. All rights reserved. Skytide and the Skytide logo are registered trademarks and Skytide Analytical Platform is a trademark of Skytide, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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