ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Visual Networks (Nasdaq: VNWK), aleading provider of performance management solutions, today announcedthat Kroger is using the Visual UpTime® Select(tm) performancemanagement system to help roll out new applications across a newmulti-protocol label switching (MPLS)-based IP-VPN network linkingseveral thousand stores across the USA.

Kroger, one of the nation's largest grocery chains, has selectedVisual UpTime Select to troubleshoot wide area network performance whilemigrating from an underlying frame relay network to an IP-VPN networkbased on MPLS. The Kroger IP-VPN network enables the chain to manage theperformance of critical applications while monitoring the bandwidthutilization on the underlying carrier circuits across the new IP-VPNinfrastructure.

"We are delighted to see an organization like Kroger embrace theVisual UpTime Select platform by binding it into their regularoperational processes," said Larry Barker, President and CEO of VisualNetworks. "We know that our customers extract great value from ourproducts. With Visual UpTime Select, Kroger is successfully addressingthe long-standing challenges of large-scale network management whilealso dealing with application delivery over new IP services such asMPLS."

Visual Networks Inc.