Application Acceleration

I am looking for anyone who has experience implementing or managing an application acceleration solution for their network such as Microsoft ISA Server, Juniper Networks DX or WX platform appliances, or Crescendo Networks Maestro platform.

I am writing an article regarding application acceleration and I am hoping to find some actual users or administrators to provide some unbiased feedback to offset what the vendors say about their own products.

If you have any experience with these or similar products, I am trying to find out

1) What are the issues or barriers that networks encounter without a solution like these in place?

2) What application acceleration solution do you use?

3) Why did you choose that solution over competing solutions?

4) Are there still problems or issues that future generations of application acceleration solutions need to address?

If you have information, but don't want to make it public, you can respond to me offline. Any input would be appreciated, but in particular I am looking for input from people who are willing to provide a real name and company so that I can potentially use the information as a quote within the article.