World's Leading Distributor of Industrial Lifting Products and Services Accelerates ERP Deployment With Expand Networks.

Business/Technology Editors

ROSELAND, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 11, 2001

-- CERTEX Deploys ACCELERATORs at Multiple Locations in Frame

Relay Network, ROI in Under One Year --

Expand Networks, a leader in optimizing network performance, announced today that CERTEX, the world's leading distributor of industrial lifting products and services, has successfully deployed Expand Networks' ACCELERATORs to boost network capacity to increase the number of users supported and enable the deployment of a vital new ERP application.

CERTEX, one of the FKI Group of companies, has over 130 locations in 20 countries around the world and operates an extensive high traffic Frame Relay network. The company's operation faced a bandwidth shortage that limited the number of users for Citrix and the deployment of a new vital ERP application, SX.enterprise. In response to this problem, CERTEX deployed Expand Networks' ACCELERATORs in numerous locations, dramatically improving the performance of the network in these locations and enabling the deployment of the mission critical NxTrend Technology's SX.enterprise application.

"We needed our Frame Relay network to be both low cost and support high volumes of traffic. Limited bandwidth availability created a network capacity problem that impacted the deployment of the ERP application. It was causing significant productivity issues that had to be addressed immediately. By deploying Expand Networks' ACCELERATORs, we were not only able to support more users on existing applications but we freed up enough bandwidth to effectively utilize SX.enterprise," said Bill Laughton, director of Information Technology with CERTEX. "By enabling us to avoid leasing more bandwidth, assuming we could even find it quickly enough, the ACCELERATORs will easily pay for themselves in under a year."

Network traffic continues to grow dramatically as each successive generation of mission-critical applications like ERP, CRM and the Internet consume ever-greater amounts of bandwidth. In the face of this trend, enterprises around the world are searching for reliable, cost-effective solutions for maintaining optimal network performance. Expand Networks uses Enterprise Caching Technology to increase network capacity, throughput and speed by an average of 100 to 400 percent or more, providing a vital solution for businesses facing constrained networks or limited access to costly additional bandwidth.

"Expand Networks was a perfect fit for a company like CERTEX with a multiple location network that needed to support high bandwidth communications at a low cost," said Talmon Marco, president and co-founder of Expand Networks. "Enterprises must have the flexibility to support growing numbers of users and deploy new productivity applications. We enable enterprises to keep pace with growing network traffic demands, without emptying their pockets to bandwidth providers."

"We worked with CERTEX to find the right solution to address its network performance problem. We looked at a range of potential solutions, but none offered the same quality and results as the ACCELERATORs. Expand's products enable our clients to run bandwidth intensive GUI-based ERP software without requiring network upgrades and overhauls. This is a lower cost option for customers who cannot afford the upgrade but require ERP software," said Roger Rush, president and co-founder of Network Source One, a network solutions provider and Microsoft & Citrix Gold Partner. "The ACCELERATORs are a scalable, easy to deploy and easy to manage solution for companies where network performance is an issue."

Expand Networks' Enterprise Caching solution has been deployed since 1999 by service providers, small and medium-sized businesses, FORTUNE 1000 corporations and major government agencies. Enterprise Caching extends the concept of Web caching to the entire enterprise, addressing all diverse traffic found on enterprise and service provider networks. Using a series of patented algorithms, Expand Networks caches content at the byte level, moving it closer to the edge of the network and closer to the user. This increases network speed, capacity and throughput by100 to 400 percent or more, ultimately improving the end-user experience.

About Expand Networks

Expand Networks pioneered the development of Enterprise Caching Technology which increases network speed, capacity and throughput by 100 to 400 percent or more. Expand Networks offers a reliable, cost-effective and easy-to-deploy solution to the strain created on networks by mission-critical applications such as Intranet, Extranet, B2B, ERP, CRM, Thin Client and the Web. By accelerating the deployment of new services and applications and offering sophisticated monitoring and management capabilities, Expand Networks improves the end-user experience and reduces the Total Cost of Ownership. Clients include leading organizations such as Motorola, Texas Instruments and the United States Department of Defense. Expand Networks is headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey and Tel Aviv, Israel with offices throughout the United States and in the United Kingdom, France and Italy. The company's sales force is augmented by a global network of Value Added Resellers. To learn more, visit www.expand.com or call [phone].

Expand Networks, ACCELERATOR 4000 and ACCELERATOR 2750 are trademarks of Expand Networks, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About CERTEX

CERTEX, one of the FKI Group of companies, is the world's leading distributor of lifting products and services with over 130 locations in 20 countries around the world. CERTEX is a supplier of quality, value, safety and technical expertise. For more information, visit www.certex.com.

About Network Source One

Michigan-based Network Source One is a Microsoft and Citrix Gold Partner offering a full range of network solutions consulting including network design, network installation, site surveys, systems integration and project management. Network Source One works with clients throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico and offers products from a number of top manufacturers including Microsoft, Dell, Citrix and Expand Networks. To learn more, visit. www.networksourceone.com or call [phone].