Vicom Hires Chief Certification Director; Will Establish Training Center for Storage Virtualization Professionals.

Business Editors

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 2000

Vicom Systems Inc. today announced that Shawn Kristoferu has joined the company as Chief Certification Director to organize and manage technology academies and establish a training center for Vicom Certified Storage Virtualization professionals.

The training center will support Vicom sales and business development goals. Professionals who complete training at the center will be capable of working independently of Vicom at VARs and OEMs to install and service SANs using Vicom Storage Virtualization routers and software. The center will model itself after similar programs, such as Microsoft Certified Professionals and Cisco Certified Network Associates. Kristoferu previously organized Cisco Local and Regional Networking Academies in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"Establishing a quality training center and program to enable networking professionals to properly install and service our series of Storage Virtualization routers and software is critical to the launch of our industry-first Storage Virtualization Engine," said Samuel Tam, President and CEO of Vicom. "And with Shawn's expertise, we know that this venture will be successful for all parties involved."

Prior to joining Vicom, Kristoferu served as a telecommunications engineer at the Pacific Stock Exchange where he was responsible for the operations of a 1,000-user Cisco network. He is a Cisco Certified Network Associate, a Microsoft Certified System Engineer, a Microsoft Certified Professional in Networking, and a Microsoft Certified Trainer. Kristoferu has established and maintained LANs and WANs, and installed protocols and services including TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, SMTP and FTP.

A credentialed teacher, Kristoferu chaired the Technology Committee for the Alameda County Office of Education, and he was the only Senior Network Service Analyst for the Alameda County Information Technology Department.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to establish the academies and training center here at Vicom," said Kristoferu. "I truly believe that Vicom's innovative Storage Virtualization technology and SAN architectures offer those in the industry exceptional tools for implementing this technology among multiple servers over the Internet. By offering training on Storage Virtualization, we will be empowering a legion of professionals with the knowledge and insight into this exciting technology."

About Vicom

Vicom Systems, Inc., headquartered in Fremont, Calif., is the world leader in storage virtualization technology. More than 1,000 SANs created with Vicom's technology are installed worldwide. Based on a distributed Storage Virtualization Engine, Vicom's hardware and software products enable storage companies to offer a new generation of SAN-centric storage systems. Storage systems using Vicom's engine have a higher data throughput, are more flexible and scalable and are more economical than host-based or storage-based alternatives. Vicom's storage products and systems are compatible with all NT and Unix platforms, and compliant with all peripheral connectivity standards, enabling storage area networks to accommodate a mix of incompatible hosts and multiple storage device standards. With a Vicom SAN, data center managers can migrate upward to new, high-performance data storage paradigms while improving the utilization of existing storage equipment.

Vicom's storage products and systems are installed in data centers worldwide for enterprise network and mission-critical applications and are supported with on-site, 24-hour, same-day service. The products are sold through Value Added Resellers and in partnership with major computer and peripheral manufacturers. Vicom Systems provides storage solutions for enterprise information management systems from IBM, HP and other major providers. Their solutions are vital to overcoming barriers to the efficient use of huge storage facilities by the Internet community and Enterprise corporations, a marketplace that is consolidating and centralizing storage via SANs with internationally-distributed hardware.