IT operations teams are under siege from all sides.
Network traffic is growing at up to 25% annually, according to Nokia Bell Labs, which forecasts a 22–25% compound annual growth rate. Hybrid and multi-cloud architectures are expanding faster than teams can instrument them. Tool sprawl has fractured visibility. And alert fatigue is rising, with EMA Research reporting that 60–80% of alerts are false or low-value.
Traditional monitoring tools were never designed for this level of complexity. They’re reactive, fragmented, and fail to connect the dots fast enough to protect user experience and business performance.
To meet these challenges, Riverbed has launched its third major product release of the year: new AI-powered Intelligent Network Observability solutions that significantly expand the value of the Riverbed Platform. Backed by strong demand—including 92% year-over-year growth in observability bookings in the first half of 2025—these innovations are built to help IT teams modernize operations, act faster, and stay ahead of disruption.
Beyond Monitoring: Intelligent Network Observability Delivers
Intelligent Network Observability is a strategic evolution that empowers IT teams to move faster and see further. At its core there are four key elements:
- Full-Fidelity Telemetry: Capture every packet, every flow, and every device metric – without sampling or gaps – across data center, virtual, cloud, on-prem, and edge.
- Correlated Context Across Domains: Bring together network, application, user, and infrastructure data for cross-domain insights that accelerate root cause diagnosis.
- Adaptable, Explainable AI: Go beyond anomaly detection with AI that understands cause and effect, predicts impact, and guides response, clearly and confidently.
- Automate Resolution: Turn AI insights into action with intelligent workflows and guided fixes that resolve issues proactively, cut MTTR, reduce ticket volume, and keep employees productive.
How Riverbed Powers Intelligent Network Observability
Riverbed’s approach centers on two key capabilities: centralized high-fidelity telemetry and integrated intelligence.
Unified Observability Begins with a Shared Data Store
The Riverbed Data Store is a high-scale, telemetry-agnostic solution that unifies data from every layer of your IT environment. Packets from AppResponse, flows from NetProfiler, device metrics from NetIM, and user insights from NPM+ and Aternity – all feed into a common, full-fidelity, virtualized data repository.
This centralized model eliminates silos, ensures consistent context, and makes historical and real-time data immediately available to drive business and IT decisions.
Riverbed IQ: AI Built for Real Network Operations
Layered on top of that telemetry is Riverbed IQ, an intelligent engine that turns data into action. Riverbed IQ blends causal, predictive, generative, and agentic AI to surface insights, not just alerts. It explains root causes in plain language, highlights risk, automates workflows, and even suggests preventative actions—all tailored for NetOps and SecOps.
The Telemetry Core of Intelligent Network Observability
At the heart of Riverbed’s Intelligent Network Observability solution is a unified telemetry fabric built on four essential products. These solutions collect and contextualize full-fidelity data, feeding it into the Riverbed Data Store, where Riverbed IQ transforms it into actionable intelligence:
- AppResponse: Real-time packet capture and transaction-level analysis provide deep forensic network visibility and application-aware diagnostics.
- NetProfiler: Scalable, hybrid flow monitoring uncovers traffic anomalies, maps SD-WAN overlays, and enables risk-based alerting and analytics.
- NetIM: Monitors IT infrastructure with real‑time mapping of application network paths, visualizing network diagrams, and tracking configuration changes to ensure network health and availability.
- NPM+: Lightweight, distributed telemetry extends deep packet inspection to cloud, remote, and Zero Trust environments with endpoint-level insights.
Together, these products form the foundation of Intelligent Network Observability, delivering complete visibility, contextual awareness, and the intelligence needed to act with confidence.
Real-World Impact for NetOps and SecOps
Intelligent Network Observability isn’t a buzzword—it’s a force multiplier for NetOps and SecOps. It goes beyond simply spotting problems to instantly understanding them, clearly explaining impact, and resolving them faster. By combining AI and automation, it transforms raw data into actionable insights and guided next steps that cut through the noise, reduce manual effort, and empower teams to act with confidence.
With Riverbed, teams can:
- Visualize Complex Architectures: Gain a complete view of remote, edge, hybrid and cloud networks to ensure seamless performance, uncover hidden dependencies, and proactively identify risks.
- Streamline Collaboration: Unite NetOps, SecOps, and Cloud teams with a shared, AI‑driven operational view that eliminates silos and accelerates decision‑making.
- Accelerate Incident Response: Pinpoint root causes faster with guided AI automation, reducing MTTR across both performance and security incidents.
- Gain Historical Insight: Leverage long-term telemetry retention to analyze trends, investigate threats, and inform architectural decisions.
By aligning visibility with intelligence, Riverbed transforms how NetOps and SecOps teams work to breakdown operational silos, speed action, and drive better outcomes across the enterprise.
Smarter Operations. Exceptional Experiences.
As complexity rises and user expectations continue to soar, legacy monitoring tools simply can’t keep up. Riverbed’s Intelligent Network Observability equips IT teams with the tools they need to not only keep pace, but lead.
With Riverbed, organizations gain:
- Unified Visibility: Full-fidelity insights across your organization, from edge to data centers to clouds.
- Faster Resolution: From anomaly detection to root cause in record time.
- AI-Powered Clarity: Guided diagnostics and explainable insights that eliminate guesswork.
- Future-Proof Scale: Elastic performance and adaptive intelligence for evolving architectures.
This isn’t just the next evolution in observability. It’s the foundation for a smarter, more responsive IT strategy. Intelligent Network Observability doesn’t just show you what’s happening. It tells you why, and what to do next.
For more information, visit Riverbed.com.