Crossbeam Systems Appoints Mark Bennett as Vice President to Launch North American Channel Strategy.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CONCORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 2003

Veteran sales executive will spearhead initiative to build relationships with key networking and security value-added resellers and systems integrators

Crossbeam Systems(R), Inc., a leading global developer of total security solutions required for safer, simpler enterprise and carrier networks, today announced that it has hired Mark Bennett as vice president of channel sales. Bennett brings more than 20 years of experience to this position, as well as a successful track record of developing sales and channels from the ground up. In this role, Bennett will spearhead Crossbeam's North American channel sales program, by forming partnerships with the key value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators (SIs) who will sell Crossbeam's total security solutions.

Crossbeam integrates best-of-breed security engines, such as intrusion prevention, firewall, VPN, anti-virus and Web filtering, with Crossbeam's patent-pending technologies in a single, high performance, highly available, self-healing security services switch. Crossbeam solutions compress traditional security infrastructures from racks of disparate networking equipment into a single security device that offers superior levels of performance, return on investment and ease-of-management. Crossbeam customers have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital and operational expenses by implementing Crossbeam's technology.

"Crossbeam has enjoyed great success through direct North American sales and channel sales in Europe and Asia/Pacific," said Peter George, president and CEO of Crossbeam Systems. "We would now like to further extend our reach through channel sales in North America, so that even more enterprises may benefit from the total security, ease-of-use and tremendous cost savings that Crossbeam provides. The addition of Mark to our executive team is the logical next step in this initiative that will include additional channel-friendly products and a comprehensive channel partner certification program."

Bennett comes to Crossbeam with a wealth of experience in sales and building channel relationships, particularly in the security industry. He was most recently at TippingPoint Technologies, a provider of intrusion prevention systems. At TippingPoint, Bennett served as vice president of commercial sales, where he helped to build the sales force and penetrate Fortune 100 accounts.

Prior to TippingPoint, Bennett worked for eight years at Intrusion, Inc. (formerly ODS Networks), which develops intrusion detection and security products. There he rose quickly through the ranks, holding a variety of sales positions with increasing responsibility, including vice president of sales for the Americas and vice president of global account sales. At Intrusion, Bennett solidified a reseller program recruiting several hundred security resellers and he was instrumental in OEM agreements with ISS and Check Point. Bennett has also held managerial sales positions at CSC (formerly Cybertek), Netopia (formerly Farallon) and Tech Data. Bennett received his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

"There is a huge market for Crossbeam's solutions, and we plan to replicate the channel-focused success Crossbeam has had globally here in North America," said Bennett. "I look forward to bringing my network security experience, as well as my expertise in building strong channel relationships and closing key deals to build a top-notch channel program at Crossbeam."

About Crossbeam Systems

Crossbeam Systems, Inc., is a leading global developer of total security solutions required for safer, simpler enterprise and carrier networks. Crossbeam enables companies to consolidate their security infrastructures while preserving their security policies, resulting in significant savings in capital and operational expenses. Crossbeam's patent-pending architecture integrates best-of-breed security engines such as firewall, virtual private networks, intrusion detection and content security in a high performance, highly available, self-healing security services switch.

Headquartered in Concord, Massachusetts, Crossbeam was founded in early 2000 and is led by senior executives from Bay Networks, Cisco, Nortel/Wellfleet, Cascade/Ascend and Alcatel. With a presence in North America, Europe and Asia/Pacific, Crossbeam is backed by top-tier investors including Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Commonwealth Capital Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Charles River Ventures.

More information is available at www.crossbeamsystems.com.

Crossbeam Systems, Crossbeam and X40 are trademarks of Crossbeam Systems, Inc. All other company, product or service names not owned by Crossbeam mentioned in this press release are the property of their respective owners.