Riverbed has added new AI capabilities to its network performance management products that the company says will help network operations teams more quickly troubleshoot problems and provide visibility across distributed enterprise networks.
Riverbed NPM 360 integrates agentic AI capabilities of Riverbed IQ and Q into Riverbed’s AppResponse and NetProfiler tool and extend network visibility across remote users, Zero Trust architecture, and public environments with NPM+, according to the company. Riverbed IQ serves as the intelligence layer behind NPM 360, applying causal, predictive, generative, and agentic AI across operational data. Riverbed Q provides a conversational interface that lets network professionals investigate performance problems using natural-language questions instead of navigating multiple dashboards and queries, says Richard Tworek, chief technology officer at Riverbed.
“We see in the marketplace that the ‘gray beards’ are starting to disappear,” Tworek says. “Less experienced folks are coming into managing network operations.” Riverbed’s goal, he adds, is to “basically make someone who is fairly new into an expert by using our tools.”
Historically, network teams have had to determine which monitoring system has the relevant answer across multiple tools and then correlate that data to determine the cause of a slow application or connectivity problem, he explains. With Network 360, Tworek says, an operator can ask a question and let the platform determine which systems and network data are relevant to the problem.
“Just ask the question,” Tworek says. Network 360 can determine where an issue is occurring, identify the relevant part of the network, and use that intelligence to help solve the problem, he explained. Tworek says the technology can also take remediation actions, such as rerouting traffic, although customers can keep a human in the loop before those actions are carried out.
Tworek says an operator could assign an agent to watch a router or cloud interface over time, collect relevant data, and report back when conditions worsen. Then updates could be delivered through Riverbed’s interface and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams and Slack. Underneath the AI interface, Riverbed’s data store tracks network metrics in real time, while the agentic engine focuses analysis on relevant deviations rather than processing everything through the AI workflow, Tworek says.
NPM 360 draws on Riverbed’s existing network telemetry. AppResponse provides packet capture and analysis, while NetProfiler provides enterprise-scale flow monitoring and analytics. NPM+ uses endpoint data to extend visibility into remote users, Zero Trust architectures, data centers, and cloud environments, according to Riverbed.
The technology is also designed to help enterprises address the complexity created by multiple monitoring tools. Tworek says organizations spend time moving among systems and spreadsheets trying to correlate information from different vendors.
Bob Laliberte, principal analyst and founder at Liberte Research Group, says as networks become more complex and distributed, operators will increasingly need AI capabilities to work effectively and maintain operational resilience at greater scale.
“Users benefit from a tightly integrated solution into what they are using today vs. learning a new tool,” Laliberte says. “As network environments become more complex, distributed, and inundated with traffic due to AI and more specifically agentic AI, operators are going to require tools like IQ and Q to enable them to work more effectively and ensure operational resilience at a greater scale.”
Natural-language interfaces should also help network teams, Laliberte says, although adoption may take time as practitioners become comfortable trusting the technology. He says Riverbed’s approach combines high-fidelity network and endpoint data with multiple forms of AI to move from detection to explanation, prediction, and governed action across environments.
NPM 360 is available immediately and is initially offered at no premium to current AppResponse and NetProfiler pricing, according to Riverbed.