MENLO PARK, Calif., October 13, 1992 -- Cisco Systems, Inc. and Olivetti announced today that they have signed a VARproduct agreement, wherein Olivetti will resell Cisco's fullline of internetworking products, including multiprotocolrouters and communication servers, as part of Olivetti'snetwork integration business. Under the agreement, Cisco'sproducts, including Cisco's newest routers, the Cisco 3000and 4000 series, as well as high-performance modular routers,such as the AGS+, will become part of Olivetti's family ofcommunication products that will be offered to Olivetti'scustomers as part of a total networking solution. Ciscorouters will not be offered by Olivetti as standaloneproducts.
While the contract allows Olivetti to sell Ciscoproducts on a worldwide basis, Olivetti expects toconcentrate sales of Cisco's internetworking products inEurope, where the company is a leading supplier ofinformation technology. Olivetti's Enterprise PremisesSystems (EPS) group will add Cisco's products to itsinternetworking product portfolio that currently includeshubs, cabling systems, and third-party maintenance services.
"This is clearly a 'win-win' situation for both Ciscoand Olivetti," said John Morgridge, president and CEO ofCisco. "Olivetti is one of the premier suppliers of totalinternetworking solutions in the European marketplace, andthis agreement represents a key element in our strategy topartner with industry, technology, and market leadersworldwide. Their decision to incorporate Cisco routers intotheir product portfolio is, once again, proof of theinternational acceptance of Cisco routers as the de factointernetworking standard."
"This agreement allows Olivetti to present the mostcompetitive and attractive offer in the marketplace today fornetwork infrastructure solutions," said Marco De Benedetti,Olivetti executive vice president, marketing services."While Olivetti already provides market-leading products,total flexibility, and independence from system vendors,Cisco's additional and unique internetworking capabilitieswill enable Olivetti to respond to any corporate networkingrequirements. Thus, Olivetti further confirms its strategyof providing open services for open systems."
Cisco Systems, Inc., is the leading worldwide supplierof high-performance, multimedia and multiprotocolinternetworking products, including routers, bridges,communication servers and network management software. Ciscotechnology can be used to build enterprise-wide networkslinking an unlimited number of geographically dispersed LANs,WANs, and IBM internetworks. Cisco is publicly traded in theUnited States over-the-counter under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.
Olivetti is Europe's leading computer manufacturer in information technology worldwide. A company at theleading edge of the information technology field, Olivettioffers a wide range of products and solutions based onstandards and open systems, including personal andminicomputers, local- and wide-area networks, specializedworkstations, and office information systems solutions.Olivetti specializes in distributed open system solutions forbanking and financial institutions, and large organizations,based on Olivetti's Open System Architecture (OSA).
