COMNET Conference & Expo Sets Industry Agenda for Networking Communications in 2002; VPNs, Security Were Key Themes At First Major Networking and Communications Event of the Year.

Business/Technology Editors

COMNET 2002

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2002

IDG World Expo, the leading producer of world-class tradeshows, conferences and events for IT markets, reported today that last week's COMNET Conference & Expo indicated that virtual private networks (VPNs), security, wireless and broadband will be key networking and communications issues in the coming year. Held at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., January 28 - 31, 2002, COMNET featured two floors of exhibits and dozens of educational sessions.

"COMNET Conference & Expo set the stage for 2002 by bringing together top networking industry leaders to discuss the key issues and drivers for the new year," said Charlie Greco, president and CEO of IDG World Expo, which owns and produces the event. "Opportunities abound for enterprise networking professionals to explore the best options to cost-effectively integrate new technology into their existing networks and infrastructure."

Verizon President and Co-CEO Ivan Seidenberg kicked off COMNET with his opening keynote presentation on Tuesday, January 29. Seidenberg stressed the importance of building a ubiquitous broadband network to allow a greater number of home and SOHO computer users high-speed access to applications.

The show floor featured exhibits by approximately 300 companies, including Agilent, AT&T, Avaya, Cisco, CommWorks, Corning, and Sprint. Attendees were able to explore and access innovative new technologies hands-on, including a wide variety of VPN and security solutions.

COMNET also featured keynote presentations by Wolfgang Kemna, CEO, SAP America, Inc.; Patrick Nettles, executive chairman, CIENA Corporation; and Ian Foster, head of Distributed Systems Lab, Argonne National Labs. Network World, the flagship media sponsor of COMNET, hosted the VPN Showdown, which was thronged with attendees eager to learn more about the intricacies of virtual private network services.

"We were thrilled with the crowd and with the quality and savvy of the attendees," said John Gallant, president and editorial director of Network World. "We've had a wonderful history of working with COMNET to educate the best and brightest network professionals, and to help them launch into a new year with the information they need to make more informed buying decisions."

Government policy for broadband took center stage during a Town Meeting moderated by Richard Wiley, former chairman of the FCC and senior partner at Wiley, Rein & Fielding. FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin, as well as representatives from the Departments of State and Commerce and the House Commerce Committee, were on hand to examine key telecommunication policy issues for the coming year and answer audience questions.

Conference sessions and tutorials attracted attendees looking for training and top-notch educational sessions taught by industry leaders. Sessions on wireless networking, VPNs, security and disaster recovery proved to be most popular.

Attendees also had the opportunity to check out new products introduced at the show by COMNET exhibitors. These included:

--ADTRAN introduced the NetVanta 2300 and the NetVanta VPN Client to its NetVanta(TM) family of VPN/Security products, which includes a series of hardware and software VPN products designed to provide secure VPN tunneling and to protect networks from cyber attacks

--Agilent Technologies introduced its new Network Analyzer, a network test tool that helps companies troubleshoot increasingly complex networks and services while drastically reducing the costs associated with downtime

--Apogee Networks introduced the NetCountant Accountability system, which provides large enterprise networks with the unique capability to capture and allocate all data bandwidth consumption on the network

--Avaya introduced two new VPN gateways, the Avaya Virtual Private Network Service Unit (VSU)(TM)-5 and the Avaya VSU(TM)-10000, which address the issues enterprises face in deploying VPN security over broadband DSL and cable connections to small and home offices; as well as the Avaya VPNremote(TM) 4.0 Client software, a desktop application for Microsoft Windows(R) operating systems

--Cisco Systems announced the introduction of the Catalyst 4006 Supervisor Engine III, an intelligent control module that is compatible with all existing Catalyst 4000 switching line cards and integrates multi-layer switching capabilities to bring intelligence from the core to the wiring closet for enhanced control of data, voice and video networks

--Micromuse announced its Netcool(R) for Security Management(TM) solution, which consolidates the management of diverse and disparate IT security elements

--Network Instruments introduced the Gigabit Observer(R) Analyzer, which enables users to perform network troubleshooting and monitoring of the most advanced, full-dulex Gigabit networks at wire speed

The next COMNET Conference & Expo will take place January 27 - 30, 2003 at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

About COMNET Conference & Expo 2002

COMNET Conference & Expo, produced by IDG World Expo, is the premier event for companies focusing their IT initiatives on building or growing a "smarter network." COMNET attracts top executive decision-makers, buyers and users of networking and communications infrastructure within organizations and government agencies. ESPWorld and Enterprise Application Summit, featured at COMNET Conference & Expo 2002, will provide additional insight and solutions for a range of issues faced by network and business leaders, such as handling in-house enterprise issues, assessing new applications and working with service providers. For more information, please visit www.comnetexpo.com.

About IDG World Expo

IDG World Expo (www.idgworldexpo.com) produces IT-focused tradeshows, conferences and events for professionals seeking world-class education, peer-to-peer networking and one-stop comparison shopping. As the leading IT event management company, IDG World Expo leverages its experience and knowledge of IT-focused events and conferences, enabling technology companies to capture the attention and loyalty of influential buyers. IDG World Expo's portfolio of conferences and events includes Macworld Conference & Expo, LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, BioITWorld Conference & Expo and COMNET Conference & Expo, which features Enterprise Application Summit and ESPWorld. IDG World Expo is a business unit of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research and event company.

About IDG

IDG publishes more than 300 magazines and newspapers and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net (www.idg.net), which comprises more than 300 targeted Web sites in 70 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168 computer-related events worldwide, and provides IT market analysis through 51 offices in 43 countries worldwide. Company information is available at www.idg.com.