Blue River Management to Resell Packet Design's Route Analytics Products in South Africa.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Blue River Management, a leading systems integrator based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has signed an exclusive agreement to resell route analytics products from Packet Design, Inc., into the South African information technology market.

Blue River will sell Packet Design's industry-leading Route Explorer to a wide range of enterprises and service providers. Route Explorer is a network management solution that lets network engineers visualize, monitor and analyze an IP network's layer 3 (routing) operation; it works by discovering all routers on the network, creating an end-to-end view of the routing topology, and "listening" to the protocol exchanges to learn when routing changes occur. With such information, network engineers can quickly identify and resolve problems, maintain their networks more effectively, and have a sound basis for accurate network-change planning.

In conjunction with the signing of their partnership agreement, Packet Design and Blue River will hold a half-day customer seminar on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at the Montecasino Conference Centre in Johannesburg.

Brett Holmes, managing director at Blue River, said, "We believe that this partnership will provide customers with more comprehensive management of IP networks, which is critical with the explosion in the deployment of IP (including MPLS-based) networks in Southern Africa."

Michel Maeso, Packet Design's executive vice president of worldwide sales, said, "IT organizations globally are recognizing that effective layer 3 management can dramatically increase the efficiency of their network operations. The addition of Blue River to our network of resellers will play a key role in promoting the utility of route analytics technology in South Africa, one of the fastest-growing IT markets."

About Blue River Management

A leader in providing integrated OSS solutions, Blue River Management is known for providing assistance to customers who face the challenges of managing IT infrastructures in an ever-changing IT environment. With a specialty in network and systems management and key international partnerships, Blue River provides a wide range of enterprise and service provider customers with comprehensive end-to-end solutions and total visibility into their technology environments. This includes consulting, integration, on-site support offerings and local training for customers. The company has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa. For more information, visit http://www.blueriver.co.za.

About Packet Design, Inc.

Packet Design, Inc., pioneered the field of route analytics and is the leading supplier of network appliances that provide routing-layer visibility into IP networks. The company's Route Explorer "listens" to IP routing-protocol exchanges, creates an accurate layer 3 topology map, and analyzes routing events to let network engineers pinpoint routing problems at a glance and resolve them quickly. Route Explorer today helps manage IP networks in dozens of global enterprises -- including financial, retail and pharmaceutical firms -- as well as educational institutions, government agencies, and some of the world's largest service providers.

Packet Design, Inc., was spun out in March 2003 from Packet Design, LLC, the fourth networking company started by entrepreneurs Judy Estrin and Bill Carrico, who previously founded Bridge Communications, Network Computing Devices and Precept Software. The company has raised $25 million in venture funding from Advanced Technology Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Masthead Venture Partners, Allegis Capital and Packet Design, LLC. For more information, visit http://www.packetdesign.com.