Partner news

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – January 31, 2012 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced that it has been positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers¹ by research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc.  Blue Coat^® MACH5 WAN Optimization appliances and virtual appliances provide traditional and next generation WAN optimization to reduce network costs and accelerate performance of important enterprise applications, file access, backup and email in addition to, live and on-demand video, Web content and Web-based and cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.

“The requirements for WAN optimization are changing dramatically. The increasing adoption of video, Web-based applications and cloud computing services require that a next generation of WAN optimization solutions support new performance needs,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems. “Blue Coat uniquely addresses WAN optimization requirements for both traditional data types and applications, such as backup and disaster recovery, while also addressing the critical and growing need to accelerate cloud- and Web-based applications and video.”

The MACH5 solution includes video delivery using a combination of stream-splitting, advanced video caching technologies and pre-population to scale the use of internal company video with minimal network impact. This enables enterprise video initiatives without driving up network bandwidth costs and crippling of the performance of other business critical applications. Video delivery is a fully integrated function of the MACH5 solution, and it supports Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, HTML5, QuickTime and Microsoft Window Media.

The MACH5 solution also includes “one-sided” (asymmetric) acceleration technology to accelerate and dramatically reduce bandwidth requirements of cloud-delivered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications and Web content with the use of a single appliance at the customer’s location but without requiring a WAN optimization device in the cloud provider’s infrastructure. MACH5 utilizes object caching and multiple optimizations to accelerate Web-based applications from a company’s own data center or one based in the cloud.

About the Magic Quadrant

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

SUNNYVALE, Calif., January 16, 2012 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web Security and WAN Optimization solutions, has announced that Nebrija University, a prestigious private university in Madrid, Spain, has selected Blue Coat appliances to manage and optimize its gateway for Internet access and its Wide Area Network (WAN) connections between campuses. With Blue Coat^® ProxySG^® and PacketShaper^® appliances, the university now has the capacity to effectively deliver applications, video and other Internet content to all of its network users. The solution reduces bandwidth consumption and improves user experience, while providing the network administrator a deeper understanding of the applications and content running through the university’s network.

With approximately 3,000 network users, including students, residents, professors and staff, the university’s Internet bandwidth requirements have increased markedly over the past year, principally due to a sharp increase in video downloads and online streaming video presentations. The rise in video caused serious congestion problems for the network access and frequent service interruptions. Since Internet access is now a primary resource for students and professors, the university needed a way to make it dependable and to allow it to scale with growing video usage. Addressing the severe impact of video on the network was the top concern. Besides Web video, the university also offers distance learning over its network and Internet gateway using video conferencing.

“The University is focusing on long-distance education and applications which require great quality and careful bandwidth management to for us to effectively use the Web in our innovative offerings, such as the Virtual Campus and Web Conferences,” said Daniel Magaña Martínez, systems director at Nebrija University. “We are now completely satisfied with the video optimization and application and content delivery brought by the Blue Coat solutions which have helped us not only to fix our previous problems through the improvement of our bandwidth management but also made it possible to meet future challenges in complete confidence.”

Video Online Optimization

Blue Coat ProxySG appliances, can cache on-demand video content and serve it to subsequent views without any additional bandwidth impact. In addition, live streaming video can scale to a very large number of views without overloading the network as it only requires a single stream which can be locally divided to provide the service to all users. PacketShaper appliances protect and manage video conferencing sessions for distance learning and provide insight about the applications being used and the resources that each consumes, and then can manage the use of these resources to ensure the proper functioning of critical applications.   

As well as optimizing the university’s Internet gateway and accelerating the delivery of video applications, the Blue Coat appliances help the university to protect students and staff from malicious Internet threats, phishing, and other issues as well as providing granular control of the use of media-streaming applications, peer-to-peer file-sharing, instant messaging and Web navigation.  

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – December 9, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by San Francisco-based private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, LLC, in a transaction valued at approximately $1.3 billion.  The Blue Coat Board of Directors has approved the agreement and resolved to recommend that the shareholders of Blue Coat adopt this agreement. Blue Coat will continue to operate with its focus on Web security and WAN optimization.

The investor group is led by Thoma Bravo and includes the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') through its private investor department, Teachers' Private Capital.

Under the terms of the agreement, Blue Coat shareholders will receive $25.81 in cash for each share of Blue Coat common stock they hold, representing a premium of approximately 48% over Blue Coat’s closing price on December 8, 2011 and a premium of approximately 62% over the 60-day trailing average for the period ended December 8, 2011.

“Over the last six months, our Board of Directors engaged in a comprehensive review of all strategic options available to Blue Coat,” said David W. Hanna, Chairman of the Board, Blue Coat Systems, Inc.  “After an extensive evaluation of strategic alternatives with our independent advisors, the Board has determined that the definitive agreement with Thoma Bravo provides an attractive all-cash valuation to our shareholders.  We look forward to completing the transaction under the terms of the agreement as expeditiously as possible.”

“Blue Coat has strong, differentiated products for protecting enterprises from the ever increasing levels of Web-based security threats and for accelerating and optimizing applications and rich media content, such as video, over their networks,” said Gregory S. Clark, president and chief executive officer, Blue Coat Systems, Inc. “Our partnership with Thoma Bravo will assist Blue Coat in more aggressively realizing the opportunities in its two markets, by providing a platform that enables greater focus on the business that supports the future growth of the company.”

“Blue Coat is an award-winning, global leader in next generation Web security and WAN optimization, and we welcome the opportunity to work with its existing management team,” said Orlando Bravo, managing partner at Thoma Bravo.  “As a private company, Blue Coat will be better positioned to innovate at an accelerated rate and achieve a higher level of growth.”

“Blue Coat marks the continuation of Thoma Bravo’s investment efforts in the security technology industry, and is the firm’s fifth security technology platform investment,” said Seth Boro, partner at Thoma Bravo. “We are excited to partner with Blue Coat on strengthening its industry leadership position through product innovation, enhancing its world-class customer support and identifying organic and strategic growth opportunities.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including requisite regulatory approvals and approval of Blue Coat shareholders. Blue Coat expects the transaction to close in the first calendar quarter of 2012.

For further information regarding all terms and conditions contained in the definitive merger agreement, please see Blue Coat’s Current Report on Form 8-K, which will be filed in connection with this transaction.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is serving as financial advisor to Blue Coat.

Thoma Bravo, LLC has received financing commitments from Jefferies Finance LLC

About Blue Coat Systems

Blue Coat Systems is a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions.  Blue Coat offers solutions that provide the visibility, acceleration and security required to optimize and secure the flow of information to any user, on any network, anywhere.  This application intelligence enables enterprises to tightly align network investments with business requirements, speed decision making and secure business applications for long-term competitive advantage.  Blue Coat also offers service provider solutions for managed security and WAN optimization, as well as carrier-grade caching solutions to save on bandwidth and enhance the end-user Web experience.  For additional information, please visit www.bluecoat.com.

About Thoma Bravo LLC.

Thoma Bravo is a leading private equity investment firm that has been providing equity and strategic support to experienced management teams building growing companies for 30 years. The firm originated the concept of industry consolidation investing, which seeks to create value through the strategic use of acquisitions to accelerate business growth. Thoma Bravo applies its investment strategy across multiple industries, with a particular focus on the software and service sectors, and works in partnership with management to implement its operating and consolidation expertise to build long-term value.  In software, Thoma Bravo has completed more than 46 add-on acquisitions across 18 platform companies with total annual earnings of approximately $1 billion.  For more information, visit www.thomabravo.com.

Information regarding the solicitation of proxies

In connection with the proposed transaction, Blue Coat will file a proxy statement and relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction with the SEC relating to the solicitation of proxies to vote at a special meeting of stockholders to be called to approve the proposed transaction. The definitive proxy statement will be mailed to the stockholders of the company in advance of the special meeting. Shareholders of Blue Coat are urged to read the proxy statement and other relevant materials when they become available because they will contain important information about Blue Coat and the proposed transaction. Shareholders may obtain a free copy of the proxy statement and any other relevant documents filed by Blue Coat with the SEC (when available) at the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, shareholders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Blue Coat by contacting Blue Coat Investor Relations by e-mail at jane.underwood@bluecoat.com or by phone at 408-541-3015.

Blue Coat and its directors and certain executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Blue Coat shareholders in respect of the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Blue Coat and their respective interests in Blue Coat by security holdings or otherwise is set forth in its proxy statements and Annual Reports on Form 10-K, previously filed with the SEC. Investors may obtain additional information regarding the interest of the participants by reading the proxy statement regarding the acquisition when it becomes available. Each of these documents is, or will be, available for free at the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov and at the Blue Coat Investor Relations Web site at: www.bluecoat.com/company/corporate-investor.

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding benefits of the proposed transaction, future performance, and the completion of the transaction. These statements are based on the current expectations of management of Blue Coat, involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict, and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed herein. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements included in this document. For example, among other things, conditions to the closing of the transaction may not be satisfied and the transaction may involve unexpected costs, liabilities, or delays, any of which could cause the transaction to not be consummated. Additional factors that may affect the future results of Blue Coat are set forth in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements in this release are qualified by these cautionary statements and are made only as of the date of this release. Blue Coat is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 29, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), the technology leader in Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced that the Blue Coat^® MACH5 WAN Optimization appliance has won the Networks Asia Readers’ Choice Product Excellence Award in the Network Optimization/Acceleration category for the second consecutive year. The Readers’ Choice Awards are determined by readers of Network World Asia magazine and Networks Asia portal to recognize IT vendors that have made the most impact on their organization in 2011.

Blue Coat takes a comprehensive approach to WAN optimization with its MACH5 appliances and virtual appliances by enabling businesses to fully take advantage of the potential presented by their Wide Area Network (WAN). The MACH5 WAN Optimization solution accelerates remote branch office access to files, email, storage and enterprise applications as well as Web, cloud and video applications.  The Blue Coat approach to next generation WAN optimization can promote branch offices collaboration, improve productivity and accelerate business applications.

“With their votes, regional senior technology heads and IT project leaders have acknowledged those products and vendors that best met their changing requirements including the ability to leverage advanced technologies for greater ROI and productivity gains. It is no surprise that Blue Coat MACH5 is a category leader as it empowers IT to leverage new Web, cloud and video technologies whilst ensuring traditional enterprise application performance,” said Victor Ng, South East Asia bureau chief, Network World Asia.

The MACH5 solution includes “one-sided” (asymmetric) acceleration technology to accelerate and optimize cloud-delivered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications without requiring a WAN optimization device in the cloud provider’s infrastructure.

The MACH5 solution also includes video delivery using a combination of stream-splitting and advanced video caching technologies to scale the use of internal company video with minimal network impact. This prevents the deployment of Web video from saturating a company’s WAN or Internet gateway or crippling of the performance of other business critical applications.

The MACH5 WAN Optimization solution includes secure “branch-to-cloud” direct Internet access so companies no longer have to backhaul Internet traffic to and from the corporate data center for security purposes and offers IT organizations a chance to re-architect their WANs to meet new application realities. Branch-to-cloud topology also lowers networking costs and speeds access to cloud-based SaaS applications. At the customer’s option, inbound and outbound Internet traffic can be a automatically and transparently sent to the Blue Coat Cloud Service, a scalable, Internet-delivered security service that provides real-time protection against Web-based threats without the need for on-location equipment or the requirement to update appliances, servers or user desktops.

“With the rapidly changing world of Web-driven applications and the preponderance of video content leading a new spectrum of network challenges, we are proud to be benchmarked for outperforming other WAN optimization solutions that are limited to only traditional data applications,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems, Inc. “The Networks Asia reward underscores a market shift towards employing comprehensive and versatile WAN optimization strategies that address wider business challenges and needs of their distributed enterprises.”

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 28, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced that research firm Frost & Sullivan has awarded the Blue Coat^® MACH5 WAN Optimization solution its 2011 Japan Market Share Leadership Award. Benchmarked across product and execution criteria, Blue Coat ranked higher than its top two competitors in four of the five categories and tied in the remaining one.

In selecting the Blue Coat WAN Optimization solution, Frost & Sullivan examined the candidates in the market and ranked them on market share, revenue, revenue growth, growth strategy, implementation excellence of portfolio diversity and degree of innovation with products and technologies. In features, functionality and matching product to market needs, Blue Coat scored a nine out of 10, above other competitors.

“Winning the Frost & Sullivan award affirms the value and uniqueness of our next generation approach to WAN optimization that solves a broader set of challenges facing IT,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems. “This award reflects that the industry expects WAN optimization solutions to solve a wider set of business challenges, particularly given the swift growth of video and Cloud- or Web-based applications.”

Blue Coat provides a comprehensive approach to WAN optimization by addressing the full range of challenges and opportunities networks have to provide to businesses. Next generation WAN optimization can enrich the effectiveness of employees in branch offices, accelerate business applications, improve collaboration and decision making. Next generation WAN optimization can also enable the flexibility and cost effectiveness of using Internet-based IT infrastructure for networking, applications and services. The MACH5 WAN Optimization solution accelerates remote branch office access to files, email, storage and enterprise applications as well as Web, cloud and video applications.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 17, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today reported financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2011. Total net revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 was $114.1 million compared with net revenue of $109.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and $121.0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

“In the second quarter, we delivered better revenue results than we anticipated, which drove improved bottom line performance,” said Gregory S. Clark, president and chief executive officer of Blue Coat Systems.  “During the quarter we also made progress on refining our strategy and improving execution in specific areas of the company. Importantly, we implemented initiatives to extend our leadership in Web security and to better leverage our differentiated WAN optimization capabilities.”

On a GAAP basis, the Company reported net income of $4.6 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2012, compared with net income of $2.7 million, or $0.06 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and $12.0 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

The Company reported non-GAAP net income of $9.3 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, for the second quarter of fiscal 2012, compared with non-GAAP net income of $8.4 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and $18.1 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. 

Cash flow provided by operations in the second quarter of fiscal 2012 was $18.1 million compared with $9.5 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 and $22.9 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. The Company ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash of $362.5 million. 

Financial Outlook

For the third fiscal quarter ending January 31, 2012, the Company currently expects net revenue in the range of $113 to $120 million. On a GAAP basis, the Company currently expects net income of $0.05 to $0.13 per diluted share. On a non-GAAP basis, the Company currently expects net income of $0.19 to $0.26 per diluted share.  For the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company is assuming a diluted share count of approximately 47.3 million shares, an expected annual effective GAAP tax rate of 38% and an expected annual effective non-GAAP tax rate of 30%.

About Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company uses non-GAAP financial measures for internal evaluation and to report the results of its business. These non-GAAP financial measures include non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, and non-GAAP diluted net income per share. These measures are not in accordance with, nor an alternative to, U.S. generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. These measures are intended to supplement GAAP financial information, and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The Company believes that these measures provide useful information to its management, board of directors and investors regarding its ongoing operating activities and business trends related to its financial condition and results of operations. The Company believes that it is useful to provide investors with information to understand how specific line items in the statement of operations are affected by certain items, such as stock-based compensation expense, amortization of intangible assets, expenses for matters related to the stock option investigation, and restructuring expenses, and related income tax adjustments.  In addition, the Company’s management and board of directors use these non-GAAP financial measures in developing operating budgets and in reviewing the Company’s results of operations, since such items have limited impact on their current and future operating decisions. Additionally, the Company believes that inclusion of these non-GAAP financial measures provides consistency and comparability with its past reports of financial results. However, investors should be aware that non-GAAP measures have inherent limitations and should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Refer to the accompanying tables for a detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP gross profit, operating income, net income and diluted net income per share.

View Q2 2012 Financial Statements

Conference Call & Webcast

Blue Coat will hold its quarterly conference call to discuss final results for the second quarter of fiscal 2012 and the outlook for the third quarter of fiscal 2012 on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. PST (5:00 p.m. EST). Participants in the United States should call (800) 230-1074.  International participants should call (612) 234-9960.  The passcode for the call is: 222996.  The conference call can also be accessed through an audio webcast from the Company’s website, www.bluecoat.com/company/corporate-investor.  A replay of the call will be available starting on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. PST (8:00 p.m. EST), and can be accessed by calling (800) 475-6701 for U.S. participants and (320) 365-3844 for international participants.  The passcode for the replay is 222996.

SUNNYVALE, Calif. – November 8, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced that it has added Cloud-Connector to its Blue Coat^® MACH5 WAN optimization appliances and virtual appliances. Cloud-Connector allows companies with Blue Coat WAN optimization solutions deployed in branch or remote offices to instantly apply Web security from the Blue Coat Cloud Service. Having secure “branch-to-cloud” direct Internet access, enables companies to stop the common practice of backhauling Internet traffic to and from the corporate data center and offers a chance to re-architect the Wide Area Network (WAN) to meet the new application realities. Branch-to-cloud topology lowers networking costs and speeds access to cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications.

“With the rapid adoption of cloud-based services and applications, companies are re-thinking the typical enterprise standard of routing Internet traffic from branch offices through a central data center or headquarters,” said Cindy Borovick, vice president, IDC. “If an enterprise can easily get the same level of Web security at the branch office that exists at the data center, it will have the flexibility to choose a network topology which is both cost-effective and business-centric.”

The Blue Coat Cloud-Connector can automatically and transparently forward inbound and outbound Internet traffic to the Blue Coat Cloud Service, a scalable, Internet-delivered security service that provides real-time protection against Web-based threats without the need for on-location equipment or the requirement to update appliances, servers or user desktops. A company simply has to purchase a subscription to the Blue Coat Cloud Service and activate the traffic forwarding option with the Cloud-Connector to immediately protect all users in the branch office from malware and other malicious content by sending the traffic through the Blue Coat Cloud Service. Companies can get a 30-day complimentary trial to evaluate the service for their business requirements.

Besides the ability to seamlessly add Web security services, MACH5 appliances integrate with the Blue Coat Cloud Service to dramatically reduce bandwidth requirements and speed the delivery of applications – both from the cloud and the enterprise data center.  Blue Coat’s integrated CloudCaching Engine accelerates the delivery of Internet content and SaaS applications through one-sided (asymmetric) optimization. In addition, live stream-splitting and on demand video caching scale delivery of enterprise and Internet video and reduce the impact of recreational content and downloads. The Blue Coat MACH5 solution also provides foundational WAN optimization technologies to accelerate files, email, backup, DR and other applications. 

According to WAN assessments performed by Blue Coat over the past several months on the networks of prospective customers, inbound Internet traffic often represents 45-65 percent of the total traffic crossing the WAN. While a majority of the traffic may be for non-business or recreational use by employees, an increasing amount is devoted to cloud-based services and applications. Backhauling such a large amount of traffic adds considerable network expense and slows the responsiveness of all business applications, including cloud-based applications which must traverse both the WAN and the Internet.

“Blue Coat Next Generation WAN optimization enables companies to transform their existing networks and drive optimization beyond the traditional Wide Area Network,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems.  “The Internet is the fundamental technology connection point for any business. Our Cloud-Connector enables enterprises to re-architect private WAN designs to safely embrace Internet connectivity to reduce costs, enable faster cloud performance and scalably deliver video– while also optimizing traditional consolidated internal applications across the WAN.”

Price and Availability

Cloud-Connector is available beginning November 22, 2011 in the latest software release for MACH5 appliances. The capability is fully integrated into the software, and there is no extra charge to customers. Existing customers under a service contract can upgrade to the latest version of SGOS to get the Cloud-Connector capability. The Blue Coat Cloud Service is priced on a subscription model based on number of employees subscribed and specific services utilized.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 7, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced that Hampshire Constabulary has reduced logon times for print, file share and reporting applications from as much as 20 minutes to only a few seconds with Blue Coat^® MACH5 WAN Optimization appliances.  This significantly reduces the amount of time officers spend on administrative and incident reporting tasks that take them away from their beats.  To deliver the same experience to officers working in rural locations with low bandwidth, Hampshire Constabulary also deployed Blue Coat ProxyClient™ software for WAN optimization.

“In the absence of local print and file servers, which were impractical from a cost and management perspective, police officers were forced to deal with painfully slow application performance, which limited the amount of time they could spend on patrol in their neighborhoods,” said Tony Hutchings, senior network engineer for Hampshire Constabulary.  “The Blue Coat solution has minimized the amount of time and effort required to access applications through the remote server and has resulted in significant productivity gains for Hampshire Constabulary.”

Hampshire Constabulary has almost 7,000 employees at 85 sites around Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.  With officers located far from centralized applications, including print and file share systems, and others located in areas with limited bandwidth, basic administrative tasks often consumed large amounts of time.  In addition to being cost prohibitive, installing and managing print servers at each police station posed an unacceptable security risk.  Any deployment would require metal cages, extra ventilation and cooling and an uninterrupted power supply.

With the Blue Coat MACH5 appliances, Hampshire Constabulary dramatically reduced the time to logon to applications, print or access files.  As a result, the IT and Communications department is no longer inundated with complaints about slow application and service response times.  In addition to reducing the burden on the network administration team, officers can more quickly complete their required paperwork and return to providing a visible policing presence in the neighborhoods to which they are dedicated.

As a result of the overwhelming improvement in productivity that the ProxyClient software delivered for remote officers, Hampshire Constabulary anticipates a broader roll out that will include all of the force’s laptop computers.  ProxyClient software is currently available with MACH5 appliances at no additional charge.

“In the current climate of local authority spending cuts, adding bandwidth to address slow application performance is not an option, even if that means officers spend more time on administrative tasks,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president at Blue Coat Systems.  “The Blue Coat WAN optimization solution enables organizations to accelerate access to centralized applications and services without adding additional bandwidth capacity, so officers can quickly complete their administrative duties and return to their beats.”

Read more about how Hampshire Constabulary is enabling its workforce to be more productive in the case study at www.bluecoat.com/doc/13966.

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 2, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web security and WAN optimization solutions, today announced its Blue Coat^® MACH5 WAN Optimization appliance has won the Computerworld Singapore Readers Choice Award 2011 in the WAN Accelerator category. The Readers Choice Awards are conferred on IT vendors selected by professionals in the IT community based on price, performance, functionality and ease of use.

“WAN optimization requirements are evolving in ways never seen before, as IT seeks to leverage new Web, cloud and video initiatives for business benefits while accelerating enterprise applications for branch office productivity and cost effectiveness.  Blue Coat continues to top this category with its innovative and features-rich solution that addresses these new and existing business needs,” said Jack Loo, editor, Computerworld Singapore.

Blue Coat provides a comprehensive approach to WAN optimization by addressing the full range of challenges and opportunities networks have to provide to businesses. Next generation WAN optimization can enrich the effectiveness of employees in branch offices, accelerate business applications, improve collaboration and decision making. Next generation WAN optimization can also enable the flexibility and cost effectiveness of using Internet-based IT infrastructure for networking, applications and services. The MACH5 WAN Optimization solution accelerates remote branch office access to files, email, storage and enterprise applications as well as Web, cloud and video applications.

The MACH5 solution includes the Blue Coat CloudCaching Engine that provides “one-sided” (asymmetric) acceleration technology to accelerate and optimize cloud-delivered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications without requiring a WAN optimization device in the cloud provider’s infrastructure. In a recent test of cloud-based applications, the Blue Coat MACH5 appliance yielded response times 93 times faster than a Riverbed Steelhead appliance when accessing documents in a Salesforce.com (SFDC) application.

The MACH5 solution also includes Optimized Video Delivery using a combination of stream-splitting and video caching technologies to scale the use of internal company video with little or no network impact, while preventing “video floods.” Video floods are caused when Internet video saturates a company’s WAN or Internet gateway and keeps other applications from performing properly.

“This third consecutive win of the Computerworld award affirms the value and uniqueness of our next generation approach to WAN optimization by solving a broader set of challenges facing IT,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president, Blue Coat Systems. “The Reader’s Choice Award signals that the industry is expecting WAN optimization solutions to work harder at solving wider business challenges particularly given the swift growth of video and Cloud- or Web-based applications.” 

SUNNYVALE, Calif., November 1, 2011 – Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), a leading provider of Web Security and WAN Optimization solutions, today announced that CTC, ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation, a leading solution provider in Japan, has reduced requests to its IT helpdesk by deploying Blue Coat^® WebFilter on its ProxySG^® appliances.  WebFilter accurately categorizes more Web content than CTC’s previous filtering software, significantly improving system operations for the company. 

With CTC’s previous Web filtering solution, 20 percent of requests to access the Web, many of which were in Japanese, were to Web sites that were not categorized by that solution.  According to the company’s corporate IT policies, these requests were blocked, leaving employees without access to necessary business-related information. As a result, the IT department received many helpdesk requests to allow access to uncategorized sites, creating a significant operational burden.

“Installing Blue Coat WebFilter provided us more granular control and decreased to six percent the number of Web sites being accessed by our employees that were uncategorized,” said Mr. Hitoshi Senbokuya, General Manager, Information Systems Department at CTC. “As we have 7,200 employees in about 100 branch offices throughout Japan, this significantly reduced helpdesk requests to add uncategorized partner, online seminar and other business-related Web sites to our white list. By applying its superior filtering policy, the Blue Coat solution reduced the load on our system operations.”

WebFilter categorizes Web content into 84 categories and receives on-demand intelligence about new and unknown web content from the Blue Coat WebPulse™ collaborative defense.  More than 75 million users worldwide provide real-time Web requests to the WebPulse defense, which are analyzed and categorized in real time for 19 languages, including Japanese.  

As CTC doubled in size, demand on its corporate gateway increased, resulting in significant spikes in Web traffic that slowed Internet access.  To support the growth and mitigate the impact of Web content on its network, CTC upgraded its Blue Coat ProxySG appliances.  ProxySG appliances cache popular or frequently accessed Web content, improving the Web user experience for employees without requiring additional bandwidth. 

“The combination of flexible policies, comprehensive Web security and in-depth reporting makes the ProxySG appliances with WebFilter a robust solution for companies that are increasingly using the Internet for business but are concerned about the potential risks to their users and network,” said Steve Daheb, chief marketing officer and senior vice president at Blue Coat Systems.  “For CTC, this combination of features resulted in a measurable decrease in IT helpdesk requests, allowing its IT team to focus on more strategic projects.”

The Blue Coat Secure Web Gateway solution combines content, application and access controls with the Blue Coat WebPulse collaborative defense to deliver comprehensive Web security without compromising network performance.