In reply to Greg Pennefather.

Avi Networks' solution is very focused on providing distributed/elastic load balancing and monitoring services includes both the network services (via micro-service-engines) and the centralized control plane that does full lifecycle management (creation, config, monitoring) of all micro-service-engines. Avi services can be deployed on same servers that run applications, on dedicated x86 servers, or even in the public cloud for a truly distributed architecture. The focus is to provide true next-generation application delivery fabric, that provides network automation, simplification, and 360 degree real time monitoring.
Embrane ESM was primarily focused on providing lifecycle management to other network service appliances for instance a Cisco ASA firewall