Centralized IT resources can save customers money because they are easier to manage and less costly than duplicating resources at every branch office. There is a downside, however, that opens the door for solution providers to play the hero.

The downside relates to application performance for branch-office staff as well as mobile or telecommuting workers. Centralized resources require remote users to access company data and applications over a WAN connection. What's needed is a way to improve performance by streamlining data access and optimizing the connection -- a job performed by a class of products called WAN accelerators or optimizers.

Available in software or as network appliances from Cisco Systems, Citrix Systems, Juniper Networks, Riverbed Technology and others, WAN optimizers accelerate remote applications and reduce costs by lessening the need for pricey bandwidth upgrades -- a solution even a thrifty customer could love.

WAN optimization appliances are usually deployed symmetrically -- one at the main office and one at each branch -- and agents are available for individual remote users. The appliances improve application performance and bandwidth utilization using a number of technologies:

• Mechanisms for data streamlining and traffic prioritization
• Data compression, caching and replication
• Acceleration for TCP, HTTP and other generic protocols
• Acceleration of application protocols such as CIFS and MAPI

The results can be startling. Application performance can be improved from five to 50 times and better, and bandwidth utilization improved from 60 percent to 95 percent, according to industry reports (see graphic).

Such benefits suggest a targeted sales strategy for WAN optimization, according to Patrick Cronin, co-founder and principal of network integrator Kovarus Technology Solutions. With entry-level solutions costing between $10,000 and $20,000, Cronin often stresses the hard ROI of bandwidth reduction. If bandwidth isn't an issue, Cronin advises focusing on application performance for influential employees at the branch offices. "It comes down to how poorly the applications are performing," he says, "and the importance of the people there. We've made many sales at law firms because of the clout of the lawyers working remotely."

Sound like a business you'd like to be in? Ingram Micro offers appliances from Cisco, Citrix and Juniper, backed by rich marketing and technical support resources, and solutions can be demoed at Ingram Micro's Solution Centers in Buffalo, N.Y., and Santa Ana, Calif. For more information, Ingram Micro customers can contact their sales representative.