Expand Networks Positioned in the Leaders Quadrant of WAN Optimization Controllers Magic Quadrant

Business Wire, Oct 16, 2006

Evaluation Based on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute

ROSELAND, N.J. -- Expand Networks, a leading provider of application acceleration solutions over the Wide Area Network (WAN), today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the "Leaders" quadrant in their recently released WAN Optimization Controllers, 2006 1 report. Gartner analyzed vendors in this space and based the evaluation according to a strict set of criteria which focuses on the completeness of vision and ability to execute.

According to Gartner, leading vendors possess a completeness of vision, which encompasses market understanding, innovation, business model and strategies in sales, marketing and geography. Gartner also evaluates the ability to execute which includes: product/service; overall viability; sales execution/pricing; marketing execution; and customer experience. In the report, Andy Rolfe, research director and Joe Skorupa, research VP state, "The development of the application acceleration market has been driven by customer demand for highly integrated solutions that employ a wide range of techniques to optimize network traffic, and that offer greater scalability and fault tolerance."

The report clarifies the definition Leaders: "Leaders exhibit an ability to shape the market by introducing additional capabilities in their product offering and by raising awareness of the importance of these features. We expect a Leader to be growing market share, or the market as a whole, and to have solutions that resonate with an increasing number of enterprises. Leaders in the WOC market need to have a broad feature set, including QoS, generic compression, protocol acceleration and file system acceleration, with the majority of features proven in substantial real-world implementations. They also need to be able to offer sales and support on a global basis."

"As more companies enter this market, buyers are increasingly turning to Gartner's Magic Quadrant to help narrow down the myriad of choices," said Christopher Williams, Chief Marketing and Channels Officer, Expand Networks. "We are thrilled that Gartner positioned us in the 'Leaders Quadrant.' Expand, an early pioneer in WAN Optimization, is an established, proven vendor in the market and is delivering the next generation of its open and scaleable multiservice Compass Platform."

Note About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted October 2006 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Expand Networks

Expand Networks is the pioneer and leader in helping organizations simplify their IT infrastructure while delivering remote offices fast, reliable and secure access to networked applications. This results in improved user productivity and cost-effective IT management. Expand offers a multi-service integrated platform that ensures superior performance for any application over any network. From its headquarters in Roseland, NJ and its global locations, Expand Networks (www.expand.com) serves more than 1,400 enterprise customers including: American Express, Bacardi USA, BMW, Continental Airlines, Carr America, Colgate, Elizabeth Arden, Reed Exhibitions, Target and United States Department of Defense.

Expand Networks, Accelerator, Expand Compass, ExpandView are trademarks of Expand Networks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Gartner Research "Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers 2006" by Andy Rolfe and Joe Skorupa. Published October 4, 2006