Gigamon Inc. today introduced Gigamon Application Metadata Intelligence (AMI), which delivers unprecedented application visibility to an organization's tools ecosystem. Gigamon AMI provides over 5,000 applications-related attributes extracted from network packet data, allowing NetOps, SecOps and analytics tools to quickly identify and troubleshoot performance and security trouble spots.

Gigamon AMI includes pre-built connectors with leading analytics tools such as Splunk Enterprise and IBM QRadar, enabling IT to easily leverage the power of metadata. Included are pre-configured templates that simplify integration with common use cases such as video quality monitoring, user/session tracking and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) devices. Furthermore, out-of-the box integration is available with a growing ecosystem of third-party tools, including FireEye, Plixer, Viavi, Flowmon and WitFoo.

"Complete and real-time visibility is core to network security. However, it is crucial that data deliver enough detail to be helpful, yet also be quickly understood and actionable. Gigamon simplifies the development of assertive protective actions for our customers by supplying application level detail to our Helix security operations platform without the need to deploy additional probes or collectors," said Ramesh Gupta, SVP Network Security, FireEye.

The applications at the heart of digital transformation initiatives have driven the need for enterprise networks to evolve into highly complex tool architectures, while cyber threats have increased in sophistication at a similar pace. This evolution presents a challenge for traditional network monitoring and security tools, which often lack sufficient network visibility around applications, protocols or user behavior.

Gigamon AMI solves this problem by centralizing network visibility and extracting the context around applications and protocols. Use cases of Gigamon AMI include:

• Network Performance: Troubleshooting server and file access performance issues using error resource codes
• Application Performance: Monitoring roundtrip SQL query time to and from a Mongo DB instance
• Operational Technology (OT) Communications: Isolating traffic and extracting intelligence for OT-related communications to help tools better focus on machine-to-machine communications for specialized use cases, such as healthcare (HL7), finance (OpenRTB) and Industrial Control Systems (SCADA)
• Security and Threat Detection: More precise identification of Command and Control attacks, identification of weak or old cyphers used for encryption, out of date certificates

"An exceptional application user experience, paired with strong security, is critical for the success of any digital transformation initiative. With Application Metadata Intelligence, organizations now have the contextual data needed to quickly pinpoint potential threats and resolve network or application performance issues that can impact the user experience," said Ananda Rajagopal, Vice President of Products, Gigamon. "The unparalleled depth of metadata elements, as well as the ease and convenience of integrations with leading analytics providers, enables our customers worldwide to run fast and stay secure in today's complex, digital ecosystem."

Solution providers can take advantage of the Gigamon Metadata Empowered Partner Program for rapid AMI integration, with support ranging from access to a development environment to development support and certification. Partners can then leverage the Gigamon Catalyst Program, which includes joint collateral, demo presence at labs and events, and direct access to Gigamon's extensive field and channel organizations that cover over 3,300 large businesses and global government agencies.