COMPAQ CLAIMS GLOBAL SAN LEADERSHIP RECONFIRMED.

Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) is the market leader in deploying Fibre Channel switching product ports for storage area networks (SAN), according to a Gartner Dataquest Research Brief on 2000 Fibre Channel SAN components.

Compaq accounted for 26 percent of the 633,000 switching ports deployed last year. The Gartner Dataquest research indicates that Fibre Channel SAN component revenue grew 157 percent in 2000. The research also showed that last year saw the completion of the transition from hub to switch dominance in this market space.

"Following on the heels of Gartner Dataquest's recent SAN market research, this new research gives an additional view of Compaq's SAN leadership and momentum because it demonstrates the sheer volume of customers we've touched," said Mark Lewis, vice president and general manager of Compaq's Enterprise Storage Group.

"Compaq is the clear alternative to proprietary enterprise storage vendors like EMC that have enjoyed great revenue growth by targeting the market's largest customers and charging them inflated prices. Compaq has taken the opposite approach -- the Compaq SAN provides exceptional value to all customers by protecting their investment and enabling them to build out and modify their storage infrastructure as their needs evolve. This strategy of delivering high quality solutions at reasonable prices has made Compaq the SAN supplier of choice for companies worldwide."

John DeRocker, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing for NEXUS, supported Lewis' statement, adding: "Compaq is the clear leader in delivering SANs. Customers don't always know what their storage needs will be five years from now and they're not interested in being locked into proprietary solutions based on their best guess. Customers want and need a SAN that saves money, delivers immediate business impact, and provides the flexibility to grow and modify their storage system as their needs change. Bottom line, Compaq offers customers a better value solution than its competitors."

Jack Cuthbert, vice president of Worldwide Sales, Marketing, and Support Services at Brocade, the leading storage industry fabric switch supplier, concurred: "Brocade and Compaq share a common mission: to help SAN customers optimize storage and application investments and extend those benefits across the enterprise. As the world's leading provider of infrastructure for storage area networks, we support Compaq's open approach to SANs and work closely with Compaq to deliver solutions to support large-scale, enterprise SANs." ?