BT Selects Forum Systems' Web Services Security Gateway for 21st Century Network (21 CN) Programme.

LONDON -- Forum Systems today announced that after a diligent evaluation process, BT has selected Forum's industry-leading Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) threat protection and trust management products for BT's 21st Century Network (21 CN) programme. The Forum Sentry SOA Security Gateway will enable XML-based Web Services communications for internal and external applications. Forum's products will be used to enforce security, service-level agreements, identity federation and run-time governance for BT's next-generation (NGN) global network.

Forum's SOA infrastructure is helping BT and over 100 Fortune 1000 organizations re-engineer business processes, reuse IT assets and move legacy systems to more agile and efficient Web Services platforms. Forum Systems' strategic relationship with BT is evident after being awarded three contracts in 2006 alone.

An end-to-end IP-based network, 21 CN will consolidate BT's systems infrastructure to ensure the delivery of NGN services. The vision is to bring together voice, data and video services for richer customer experiences over a converged IP-based network. To make this a reality, BT is creating a multi-layered and intelligent platform that will allow BT and third-party service and content providers to create and deliver consumer focused, multi-media enriched services.

"Forum Systems is thrilled to be working with BT to enable and secure the exciting services and capabilities that will be part of the 21st Century Network," said Wes Swenson, CEO for Forum Systems. "BT is a leading force in the telecommunications world and with the 21CN programme, customers will now be able to create and mix together innovative user-generated content and services. As a leader in SOA infrastructure, Forum is committed to delivering the critical security components that will bring the power of BT's global network to the Web."

BT and SOA

SOA is an evolution of Information Technology practices and technologies that promote agility and responsiveness of business processes. SOA is grounded in the notion that flexibility in adding and modifying functionality should not translate into complexity or costly integration cycles. BT is using SOA and Web Services to support their NGN-based services and Forum Systems is playing a key role in the delivery of these services by ensuring content privacy, secure access to resources and scalable deployments.

As part of the 21st Century Network programme, BT has undergone extensive assessment of solutions for authentication, authorization, service provisioning, identity federation and acceleration of Web Services communications. Forum will provide these features as well as: single sign-on, XML security policy enforcement, service exposure management, and integration with BT's Common Capabilities (CC), Operational Support System (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS).

About Forum Systems

Forum Systems, Inc. is the leader in Web Services and SOA Security[TM] infrastructure with a comprehensive suite of XML acceleration, trust management and threat protection solutions for the automated Web. Forum Systems' flexible hardware, software and embedded products make vibrant business communications possible by actively protecting XML data and Web Services across networks and business boundaries. Forum's products have been chosen by over 100 Fortune 1000 industry leaders and are winners of Network Computing Magazine's Well-Connected 2006 and 2004 Awards and Product of the Year 2004 Award, Network Computing Magazine's Editor's Choice 2003 Award, Network Magazine's Product of the Year 2003 Award and most recently "Most Outstanding Product of the Year 2006" Well-Connected Award by CMP Media. Forum XWall Web Services Firewall was also the industry's only XML Firewall selected by InfoWorld LEADERBOARD 2004. Visit Forum at http://www.forumsys.com/.