Riverbed, Microsoft Expand Relationship

SAN FRANCISCO and REDMOND, Wash. -- Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ: RVBD), the IT infrastructure performance company for networks, applications and storage, announced today that it has licensed Microsoft Windows Server 2008 for integration on the Riverbed Steelhead® appliance through the Riverbed Services Platform (RSP). The RSP is a virtualized partition within the Steelhead appliance that allows customers to deploy applications critical to the branch office as virtualized services on the appliance, enabling them to further consolidate their IT infrastructure.

This agreement further strengthens Riverbed's relationship with Microsoft. In August 2008, Riverbed joined the Microsoft Protocol Optimization Licensing Program (POLP). Through this protocol implementation agreement, Microsoft gives Riverbed access to its intellectual property so that Riverbed can build on its expertise and success accelerating and optimizing Windows-based applications over the wide area network (WAN). Participation in POLP, combined with Riverbed's licensing of Windows Server 2008, gives enterprises that have standardized on Microsoft a proven platform for IT consolidation.

"Many enterprises share a vision of a remote office with few or no servers and IT centralized in the data center," said Zeus Kerravala, senior vice president, Yankee Group. "The addition of Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 to the Riverbed Services Platform moves that vision closer to a reality. Riverbed customers get proven and best-of-breed acceleration that can now run the most common IT platform -- Windows Server -- for their critical remote infrastructure services."

Riverbed Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: RVBD)

Microsoft Corp.