MUMBAI, India, December 2 /PRNewswire/ --

- Ipanema Partnership to Help Customers Boost Network Performance

Tata Communications, a leading provider of the new world of communications, today announced the launch of its Application Performance Optimization (APO) service to provide companies with end-to-end, network application management. Ipanema Technologies, a well-known WAN (Wide Area Network) optimization solutions provider, is one of the technology partners for this service.

Tata Communications' APO service available globally, is highly scalable, and can be implemented across thousands of sites. The service offers a unique consultative approach in the delivery of Application Performance Services. The service helps companies dramatically improve the performance of network applications that feed core business processes, increasing productivity and user satisfaction by reducing transaction delays across the network. It also improves application delivery and ensures continuous control, IT consolidation, bandwidth reduction and slow applications acceleration.

As part of the service, Tata Communications evaluates a company's goals then designs a solution that uniquely fits their needs. The customer's environment is assessed, a WAN optimization vendor is chosen, and application performance is analyzed in order to design the optimization sequence. APO is a globally managed service, including customized reporting of real-time environment and alarms (application performance degradation alarms). It can also propose application level service level agreements (SLAs) when bundled with customers' connectivity solutions, such as IP and VPN.

As network traffic increases, cost efficiencies demand effective utilisation of each IT application. Tata Communications APO Service offers enterprises a unique modular, flexible, and repeatable service with a depth and functionality not seen before on a global scale, said James Walker, Vice President, and Global VPN Services for Tata Communications.

Tata Communications chose Ipanema as an APO solution partner because of their capabilities in application optimization, such as in depth visibility and optimization including Quality of Service (QoS) optimization, acceleration, and compression features. Key advantages of the service include a continuous measure of performance at flow level (session by session), which is then aggregated in high level indicators to quickly detect degradations and perform accurate diagnostics. Ipanema's solution also provides the unique concept of network wide QoS, globally optimizing the network and not only each WAN access independently.

According to research firm OVUM, 78 percent of European and North American companies said a performance degradation of networked applications would have a severe impact on their business. The research highlights the imperative need to provide customers with highly effective traffic optimization solutions for networked applications. Partnering with Tata Communications provides the opportunity for us to deliver cost-effective, fully customizable solutions to meet each customer's distinctive needs, said Thierry Grenot, CTO, Ipanema Technologies.

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications, a member of the $62.5 billion Tata Group, is a leading global provider of a new world of communications. The emerging markets communications leader leverages its advanced solutions capabilities and domain expertise across its global and pan-India network to deliver managed solutions to multi-national and Indian enterprises, service providers and Indian consumers.

Tata Communications' range of services include transmission, IP, converged voice, mobility, managed network connectivity, hosting and storage, managed security, managed collaboration and business transformation for global enterprises and service providers, as well as Internet, retail broadband and content services for Indian consumers.

The Tata Global Network encompasses one of the most advanced and largest submarine cable networks, a Tier-1 IP network, with connectivity to more than 200 countries across 300 Pops, and more than 1 million square feet of data center and co-location facilities.

Tata Communications' unique emerging market depth and breadth of reach includes a national fiber backbone network and access to network in over 60 cities and 125 Pops in India, strategic investments in South African converged services operator, Neotel, Sri Lanka and Nepal and, subject to fulfillment of conditions precedent, a 50% ownership in China Enterprise Communications (CEC) providing full country VPN coverage in China.

Servicing customers from its offices in over 80 cities in 40 countries, Tata Communications is the number one global international wholesale voice operator and number one provider of international long distance, enterprise data and Internet services in India, the Company was named Best Wholesale Carrier at the World Communications Awards in 2006, BestPan-Asian Wholesale Provider at the 2006 and 2007 Capacity Magazine Global Wholesale Telecommunications Awards and was awarded Best Progress in Emerging Markets at the 2008 Mobile Communication Awards.

Tata Communications Limited along with its global subsidiaries, (Tata Communications), is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange. (NYSE: TCL)

About Ipanema Technologies

Ipanema develops next-generation solutions for application traffic management and Wide Area Networks (WAN) optimization that drastically improve the user experience. Ipanema's Autonomic Networking System brings intelligence to the network, enabling enterprises to dynamically align the network with business objectives. The Ipanema Autonomic Networking System is designed to manage very large enterprise WANs and it empowers enterprises, telecom operators, and network service providers to go Beyond the Network TM. Ipanema's Autonomic Networking System creates repeatable, industrialized, application SLA-based services that offer the best benefits with the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Ipanema is used extensively by large telecom operators and multinationals across all market segments, including banking and finance, public sector, energy, pharmaceuticals, automotive, and IT. For more information, go to http://www.ipanematech.com

Media Contacts: Harpreet Jabbara Tata Communications +91-9250001787 harpreet.jabbara@tatacommunications.com Janice Goveas Tata Communications +91-92233-94575 janice.goveas@tatacommunications.com Media Agency STC Associates +1-212-725-1900 x204 kristen@stcassociates.com

Media Contacts: Harpreet Jabbara, Tata Communications, +91-9250001787, harpreet.jabbara@tatacommunications.com; Janice Goveas, Tata Communications, +91-92233-94575, janice.goveas@tatacommunications.com; Media Agency: STC Associates, +1-212-725-1900 x204, kristen@stcassociates.com