There’s not many Wan optimisation specialists out there. I’m only familiar with Cisco, Citrix Systems and Packeteer. So the market is not that crowded yet and now the big blue guys at Microsoft recent tie up with Citrix Systems is set to heat things up. Good luck going after this networking giant valued at USD$28.48Billion (2006).

Microsoft’s recent alliance with Citrix Systems to develop wide area network (Wan) optimisation technology represents a declaration of war on Cisco in the “critical battleground” of the branch office, Gartner has reported. According to the analyst firm, the Redmond giant’s tie-up with thin client firm Citrix is the culmination of a “long-simmering rivalry” with Cisco, and has the potential to transform the Wan optimisation market. The comments come after Microsoft and Citrix announced an expansion of their established partnership that will result in a jointly developed and marketed Citrix-branded branch office box. Gartner said that this product is scheduled to ship in the second quarter of next year and will be based on Citrix’s WANScaler product line gained through its recent acquisition of Orbital Data, and on Microsoft’s Windows Server and Internet Security and Acceleration Server.