Cisco Fuels Proliferation of Managed Network Services to End-User Customers.

ATLANTA -- Delivering on Strategic Relationships to Develop Revenue-Generating Services for Customers in a Variety of Industries

Cisco Systems(R) (Nasdaq:CSCO) today announced significant momentum in the adoption of managed network services offered by leading carriers such as AT&T, BellSouth, SBC and Sprint. Through its strategic relationships with these service providers, Cisco(R) continues to deliver on their promise of developing and deploying innovative managed services, such as virtual private networks (VPNs) to business customers in a variety of industries.

"We continue to see an increase in end-user adoption of managed services, as these offerings provide the benefits associated with a converged network infrastructure, without an increase in operational costs or responsibilities," said Sameer Padhye, vice president of service provider marketing at Cisco. "For our service provider customers, innovative managed services -- which incorporate advanced technologies such as mobility and security -- not only provide additional revenue and differentiation, but also greater customer loyalty."

According to Tere Bracco, vice president, Global Services Markets at Current Analysis, a leading competitive intelligence and industry analysis firm, managed services has emerged as one of the most lucrative market opportunities in 2004, and is expected to continue to grow in the coming year.

Managed Services -- Real Customers, Real Benefits

Today, businesses in a variety of industries are reaping real benefits by outsourcing some network services to service providers. For example, SBC oil and gas customer, eLynx, has experienced cost savings of $9,000-$10,000 monthly through SBC PremierServ IP Telephony service. By outsourcing the management of their communications network, eLynx has focused their efforts on their core business, while experiencing productivity gains and cost savings.

Sprint financial services customer, AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, has recently signed a three-year contract to deploy managed Internet Protocol (IP) VPN services, which will help the company save money and streamline communications. With Sprint Managed Network(SM) Services, AgFirst will link its headquarters located in Columbia, S.C., and their 23 associations, representing more than 300 locations throughout 15 eastern states and Puerto Rico.

BellSouth is working with customers in the education market, such as Charleston Southern University. "We're fostering an advanced educational environment through technology such as campus-wide wireless Internet access and BellSouth(R) Managed Network VPN to provide real-time links for off campus faculty and recruiters," said Rusty Bruns, chief information officer at Charleston Southern University. "Most recently, we worked with BellSouth and Cisco to implement Cisco Security Agent software, helping to ensure additional reliability and security of our networks so we can focus on operations."

Through its strategic relationship with Cisco, AT&T has recently announced a multimillion-dollar contract with Clarian Health Partners. The fully managed solution will help Clarian standardize best practices in patient care by providing instant access to a patient's complete, centralized, electronic medical record. Additionally, the AT&T service will support bedside electronic terminals that will actively involve patients in their treatment on a variety of fronts -- from tracking the status of surgical procedures and prescribed medications to ordering meals.

In addition, an Oklahoma-based retail furniture store's use of SBC PremierSERV IP Telephony managed services has resulted in increased customer satisfaction. "With our SBC network, we can effectively manage our inventory process from the warehouse to the store to the customer," said Dan Weatherman, information technology (IT) director at Mathis Brothers Furniture. "Because of this, we have seen a marked improvement in our customer relationships, which is the foundation for our business."

For more information about Cisco service provider solutions and managed services, visit http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns341/ networking_solutions_service_provider_home.html. (Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. You may also need to remove an extra space in the URL if one exists.)

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, this year celebrates 20 years of commitment to technology innovation, industry leadership, and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, visit http://newsroom.cisco.com.

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