F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), the global leader in Application Delivery Networking, today announced that the company is positioned as the number one in-use file virtualization vendor for Fortune 1000 companies in a report recently released by technology research firm, TheInfoPro, Inc (TIP). The report indicated that file virtualization technology, such as F5’s ARX family of file virtualization switches, is currently the top technology on TIP’s In Use Expansion Index, which gauges changes in spending on already adopted technologies. According to the report, 55 percent of firms interviewed increased their file virtualization spending throughout 2008. 

“File virtualization is a proven, cost-efficient way for large enterprise organizations to solve their most pressing data management problems,” said Robert Stevenson, managing director of storage research for TheInfoPro. “The technology helps organizations solve critical problems such as managing storage growth and data mobility while controlling costs.”

“Organizations are using F5’s ARX file virtualization solutions to more efficiently manage their data, which is especially important during economically unstable times," said Nigel Burmeister, director of product marketing, F5 Data Solutions. “This technology enables companies to quickly implement critically important storage initiatives, like deduplication, backup optimization, and information lifecycle management, that cut storage-related costs and make more efficient use of existing assets. Companies around the world are reporting tremendous ROI savings.”

F5 also received the highest promise and fulfillment scores in the Virtualization Market Window of Customer Ratings. The promise score measures the strength of a vendor’s marketing “promises” based on customer ratings in the areas of Competitive Positioning, Technical Innovation, Management’s Strategic Vision, and Brand/Reputation. The fulfillment score measures the degree to which the promises were met. This number is based on customer ratings in the areas of Value for the Money, Product Quality, Delivery as Promised, and Technical Support.

“As our organization grows, our storage and data management needs become more challenging,” said James Sample, Director IT-Infrastructure, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. “F5 has allowed us to manage our massive data growth while dramatically cutting our storage costs, all without impacting our end users.”