Large-scale enterprises, as well as small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) are facing unprecedented competitive and economic challenges. Escalating fuel costs and growing concerns regarding the ecological impact of traditional business practices are compounding these challenges. Smart companies recognize that technology and the rapidly growing array of Web-based services can produce greater operating efficiencies, but few have been able to harness the power of technology to fully achieve their corporate objectives. Many companies are rethinking how they acquire and manage hardware and software. This is leading them to consider new methods of outtasking the day-to-day burdens of network management and opening the door to a new generation of managed services.

This whitepaper will examine these trends and challenges, and will identify the best way to optimize network and application performance and security. We will look at today's best practices and examine how Blue Coat Systems is addressing these requirements with an integrated solution.