Westcon Group European Operations Receives ISO 9001:2000 Certification.

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. -- European Process Management System is Compliant with the ISO9001:2000 Quality Standards across its European Logistic Centers and Sales Subsidiaries

Westcon Group, Inc., a multi-national distributor of networking technology products, announced today that its European Process Management System has achieved the ISO9001:2000 certification, part of the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) ISO 9000 family of standards. The certified processes include the European Process Management System (EPMS) and the European Continuous Improvement System (ECIS). Both processes passed the audit with zero findings.

These systems were developed as part of Westcon Group's commitment to develop and improve processes across Westcon Group European Operations. The EPMS was developed to bring visibility to all WGEO's European procedures, while providing a basis for a European-wide core quality system. The ECIS enables WGEO to request and monitor business process improvements for reporting and auditing purposes.

Certification for the new EPMS and ECIS management systems were gained on October 27th, 2004. Comstor UK and WGEO have operated an ISO 9000 accredited system in Cirencester, UK, since 1999 and in November, 2004 a second operational location in the Netherlands attained the ISO 9000:2000 standard and was awarded an ISO certificate. In the United States, Westcon Group's Voda One division gained its ISO 9000 certification in 2002 for its Final Channel Assembly process. At that time, Voda One, which had no obligation to be certified, pursued the ISO certification to demonstrate its ongoing commitment to maintaining high quality management systems.

The ISO 9000 series, originally published in 1987, has earned a global reputation as the basis for establishing quality management systems. It is based on eight quality management principles that reflect best management practices. These principles are:

--Customer Focus

--Leadership

--Involvement of People

--Process Approach

--System Approach to Management

--Continual Improvement

--Factual Approach to Decision Making

--Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships

The concept of "continual improvement" contained in the ISO 9000 is intended to promote the effectiveness of the quality management system and increase the organization's ability to compete in the market. Simon Minett, chief operating officer, Europe, Westcon Group, commented: "Our ISO 9000 achievement is a clear signal to all our European customers that Westcon Group is totally committed to maintaining the highest quality standards throughout our entire operations. This validates our commitment to deliver the highest quality products and services to our customers."

"The ISO 9000 standard is an important, widely accepted measurement of management systems and processes, and very significant as it relates to customer service," said John Howard, director of distribution EMEA, Avaya. "We are pleased that Westcon Group has taken the steps to achieve certification and hope these efforts are recognized by its customer base."

Andrew Coulsen, chief operating officer of Dimension Data, a UK-based integrator, added: "As products and technologies continue to rapidly evolve, quality assurance and process standards become increasingly important. It is comforting to know that Westcon Group has a highly disciplined approach to its management process and that these processes have been certified by an internationally recognized body. This increases my confidence in dealing with Westcon, and ultimately increases my ability to compete in the market."

About Westcon Group

Westcon Group, Inc. is a multi-national distributor of networking and communications equipment for leading technology vendors, including Cisco Systems, Inc., Nortel Networks Corporation and Avaya, Inc. Through its Westcon, Comstor and Voda One divisions, Westcon Group sells products and services to resellers, systems integrators and service providers. Westcon Group has particular expertise in the convergence of voice, data and video applications and technologies, including voice-over Internet protocol, or VoIP, security for networking and communications systems, remote access, Internet and e-business, virtual private networks, videoconferencing and wireless connectivity. For more information, visit www.westcongroup.com.