NetQoS on Tuesday said it has upgraded its NetQoS Performance Center with data collection, analysis, and reporting capabilities in its new version 5.0.

The new capabilities, unveiled at the Interop Conference and Expo, are aimed at helping operations personnel, engineers, and executives deliver optimum application performance across networks.

The release is headlined by a connector for Microsoft Excel, an application performance dashboard, and maps with real-time event notifications.

"The new version of the NetQoS Performance Center is a major step forward in delivering performance information in ways more people in the IT organization can understand and act upon," Matt Sherrod, NetQoS's VP of product management, said in a statement.

For instance, version 5.0 has an application performance dashboard aimed at appealing to help desk, operations personnel, and others working in troubleshooting, the company said, adding that the dashboard helps pinpoint the root cause of problems right down to the offending network, server, or application. It requires just three clicks for a user to move from an initial alert view to details in depth diagnosis and troubleshooting.

The NetQoS Excel Connector features an API enabling users to quickly build Excel custom reports drawing on data in performance center product modules. NetQoS pointed to the success one user had with the Excel feature: The customer had spent two weeks a month building custom reports, but with the new Connector for Excel, the user needs just a few hours to carry out the same function.

The Performance Center's maps with real-time event notifications give users real-time perspectives on the health of their entire IT infrastructures. Topology displays and customizable grouping of devices provide context and simple drill-down capabilities.

"The maps and dashboards in particular will help operations teams troubleshoot issues more quickly," said Sherrod, adding that they free up "time for network engineering teams to do higher level planning."

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