Blue Coat Positioned in Leaders Quadrant in Prestigious Analyst Firm's WAN Optimization Report

Business Wire, Dec 19, 2007

ProxySG Appliances Combine Application Acceleration With Web Security and Control to Stop the Bad, Accelerate the Good and Manage Everything in Between

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:BCSI), a leader in WAN Application Delivery and Secure Web Gateway, today announced that it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc., the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, in the "Leaders" quadrant of the research firm's "Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers, 20071." Blue Coat([R]) Proxy SG([R]) appliances accelerate applications across the Wide Area Network (WAN) while also providing visibility and control over WAN traffic, internal video distribution and Web security at each branch office.

Unique Combination of Acceleration, Security and Control

Blue Coat has been shipping its appliances for security, control and acceleration since 1998, but added its MACH5 WAN optimization technologies to its ProxySG appliances in 2006. Blue Coat was also positioned by Gartner in the "Leaders" quadrant of the "Magic Quadrant for Secure Web Gateway, 2007"2 earlier this year.

Fastest Growing WAN Optimization

Last month a report from Gartner indicated that Blue Coat was the fastest growing vendor of advanced platform WAN optimization solutions during the second calendar quarter of 2007, with a quarterly growth rate of more than double its closest competitor. According to the Gartner report, "Market Share: Application Acceleration Equipment, Worldwide, 2Q07,"3 Blue Coat achieved a Q107 to Q207 growth rate of 100 percent for its Advanced Platform WAN Optimization Controller solution based on product revenue.

Blue Coat has over 700 customers around the world for WAN optimization, including more than a dozen with implementation exceeding 100 sites. In total, Blue Coat has over 6,000 customers and 40,000 appliances shipped.

"We believe our position in the leaders quadrant by Gartner is confirmation of our great momentum, unique differentiators and the strong leadership in the evolving market for WAN optimization," said Bethany Mayer, senior vice president, Worldwide Marketing, Blue Coat Systems, Inc. "The market has clearly changed and now demands a comprehensive ability to provide application acceleration combined with Web security, visibility and policy control, video delivery and a software client for telecommuters and mobile employees."

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrants are copyrighted 2007 by Gartner, Inc. and are 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 intention of the Magic Quadrant is solely as a research tool. Readers should not consider it as 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 Blue Coat Systems

Blue Coat secures Web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Blue Coat's family of appliances and client-based solutions - deployed in branch offices, Internet gateways, end points, and data centers - provide intelligent points of policy-based control enabling IT organizations to optimize security and accelerate performance between users and applications. Blue Coat has installed more than 40,000 appliances worldwide and is ranked #1 by IDC in the Secure Content and Application Delivery market. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or www.bluecoat.com.

1. Gartner, Inc., "Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers, 2007" by Andy Rolfe and Joe Skorupa, December 10, 2007.

2. Gartner, Inc., "Magic Quadrant for Secure Web Gateway, 2007" by Peter Firstbrook, Lawrence Orans and Arabella Hallawell, June 4, 2007

3. Gartner, Inc., "Market Share: Application Acceleration Equipment, Worldwide, 2Q07" by Joe Skorupa and Nhat Pham, October 2007.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems' expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems' products. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems' business are set forth in Blue Coat Systems' Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2007, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2007, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.