Paul Beliveau, the network solutions architect for Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen, recalls coming into work one day in 2006 only to discover that one of the biotechnology company’s networks was being clogged by World Cup soccer.

Specifically, he found that capacity at one of his Madrid circuits was being completely used up by employees streaming live video of the tournament while at work. When he called the Madrid branch to tell them of the problem, however, the branch office manager shrugged it off.

"He was willing to live with poor application performance for the time being," says Beliveau, who monitors network health for Biogen offices in 22 countries. "I think he was afraid that shutting off the World Cup would cause a revolt."

But despite the fact that this particular branch manager didn't want his help, Beliveau says he is able to quickly identify and isolate similar network problems at offices around the world by using software produced by NetEvidence, a software-as-a-serivce (SaaS) provider based in the United Kingdom. This particular SaaS, known as Highlight, gives its users a browser-based user interface designed to help companies monitor and manage network performance around the globe.

"What we're trying to do is make the visibility of what's going on in the network accessible to a wider range of people," says Andi Willmott, the business development director for NetEvidence. "In the same way that Apple is trying to make phone functionalities easier with the iPhone, we're trying to take a similar approach to network management software with Highlight."

One of Highlight's key features is its color-coded tile interface that delivers network performance measurements for stability, load and health. Thus, when Beliveau starts up his computer every morning, he sees a series of tiles on his screen that display network health for every Biogen office in the world. If an office's tile is "green," then it's generally healthy. Yellow or red    indicate that the network is or may become overloaded.

Click to see: NetEvidence Highlight’s management interface

From there, Beliveau says he can dig deeper into the trouble areas and figure out the root cause right down to the application level. For instance, he can figure out how much in-the-cloud network traffic is produced by Lotus Notes, and how much is produced by peer-to-peer applications such as eDonkey. What makes the software so special, Beliveau says, is its ease of use and the accuracy of the measurements it uses to grade network performance.