Brand matters. Brands are expensive to build, and even more expensive to change. Once a brand is established, it is wise to respect it and seek to gradually guide and enhance it, but not shift directions too quickly. Look at how much effort goes into changing cherished consumer brands, such as the portrait of Betty Crocker, which has been revised several times over the decades to reflect social changes. Such brand icons change, but infrequently and with the utmost care.

A couple of years ago, we missed the mark with a brand change. Our WhatsUp Gold was well established as a leader in the network monitoring market, and we had a new, more advanced version coming out. To distinguish it, we decided to call it WhatsUp Professional. We thought the brand value was in the word ‘WhatsUp’. We have come to learn, though, that the brand known by network administrators was the full ‘WhatsUp Gold’. For the past two years, customers persisted in calling the product ‘WhatsUp Gold’ or ‘WhatsUp Gold Pro’ even though ‘Gold’ was no longer a part of the name. Initially we thought that was a natural part of a brand transition, but we have come to realize that the ‘Gold’ part of the brand is so strongly established that it is not wise to try to change it. So we’re adapting. This year we are bringing back the ‘WhatsUp Gold’ name with the introduction of our superb new release, WhatsUp Gold Version 11. Check it out.

We’ve come a long way from the days of our early availability tool ten years ago. WhatsUp Gold Version 11 presents network and application health through extensive web reports, and state-of-the-art web configuration and customizable interface, a la Google’s customizable home page. Check out WhatsUp Gold 11 , and apply its elegant web interface to managing your network.