Agilent Technologies Firehunter/PRO Selected by Verio to Monitor Service-Level Guarantees for Internet Services.

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2000

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) today announced that Verio Inc., the world's largest Web-hosting company, has selected Firehunter/PRO service assurance solution to offer service-level guarantees for its Internet services.

Firehunter/PRO offers carrier-grade service-level agreement (SLA) verification capabilities that enable the complete monitoring and management of premium Internet services, such as Web hosting and electronic commerce, that corporate business customers are demanding. Verio and Agilent will work together in a multi-phase project to implement service-level guarantees across the Verio product offerings using Firehunter/PRO. The initial implementation will be to measure performance across the Verio tier 1 network. Follow-up implementations will allow Verio to monitor and offer SLAs for other value-added services.

"Firehunter/PRO offers Verio the ability to differentiate our services based on performance guarantees," said Dan Vortherms, vice president of Product Engineering for Verio. "We selected Firehunter/PRO because it provides a single platform that we can utilize to provide service-level guarantees across our diverse product set. We will be able to leverage the framework provided by Firehunter/PRO to integrate a variety of service measurements and provide a clear view of service levels directly to the customer."

"With the Internet's explosive growth rate and the increase in organizations entrusting mission-critical business to the Internet, the need for delivering superior service assurance is key," said Tom White, senior vice president and general manager of Agilent's Communications Solutions Group. "The selection of Firehunter/PRO by Verio demonstrates this critical need for performance and service-level guarantees."

About Agilent Firehunter

The Firehunter family of service-assurance solutions for e-business provides vital functionality for proactive management of the performance and availability of business-critical services. Firehunter supports service-level monitoring and reporting and SLA management, resulting in assured, verified service levels for tiered-service offerings. These powerful capabilities enable service providers to rapidly trouble-shoot, improve customer service and enhance business planning.

About Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a diversified technology company, resulting from Hewlett-Packard Company's plan to strategically realign itself into two fully independent companies. With 42,000 employees serving customers in more than 120 countries, Agilent Technologies is a global leader in designing and manufacturing test, measurement and monitoring instruments, systems and solutions, and semiconductor and optical components. The company serves markets that include communications, electronics, life sciences and healthcare. The businesses comprising Agilent, a subsidiary of HP, had net revenues of more than $8.3 billion in fiscal year 1999.

Information about Agilent Technologies can be found on the Web at www.agilent.com.