SYDNEY, Australia, July 12, 1995 -- Cisco Systems and Metaplex Pty. Ltd.,of Sydney, Australia, have formed a multi-year partnership to developsoftware that enhances the ability of Cisco's router and switch platformsto provide connectivity solutions for IBM internetworking.

Metaplex, a five-year-old firm specializing in IBM SNA data communicationssoftware, will dedicate its 19-member engineering staff to developmentefforts conducted under the auspices of Cisco's recently formed IBMInternetworking Business Unit . Based primarily in Sydney, Metaplexengineers will work closely with the Cisco business unit's staff in Research Triangle Park,N.C. , and San Jose,Calif.

The three key areas of product focus specified by the pact are LANswitching , access protocol technology and mainframeconnection. Productsdeveloped under the agreement will be marketed and sold by Cisco'sworldwide sales force.

Metaplex and Cisco have worked together since December 1993 on a number ofprojects including gateway, bisync tunneling, and network managementservice point support. Metaplex has also worked under contract to IBM andNovell.

Paul Wood, Metaplex president, said, "The agreement with Cisco is a directresult of the strategy defined by Metaplex management at the company'sformation five years ago: to market our development skills to industryleaders worldwide. This serves as undeniable proof that Australian firmscan compete in the world market, providing innovative products to leadinginternational organizations."

Cliff Meltzer, engineering director for Cisco's IBM InternetworkingBusiness Unit, said, "Cisco has established itself as the leader in IBMinternetworking, with a two-thirds market share. Metaplex, whose engineersaverage more than a decade of IBM SNA development work, is one of theworld's most experienced development organizations in this arena. Metaplexin effect will serve as an additional development arm of Cisco, allowing usto quickly expand our engineering bandwidth and accelerate the rate atwhich we can bring new products to this rapidly growing market."

Richard Freemantle, managing director, Cisco Systems Australian and NewZealand commented, "We at Cisco Australia are very proud of thisrelationship. Cisco's philosophy has always been to partner with leadingdevelopment organisations to bring the best possible product to market.The fact that Metaplex is an Australian company is especially pleasing andis an indication of the commitment that Cisco has not only to sales, butalso to R&D, in this region."

Metaplex Pty. Ltd. was formed in Sydney in late 1990. The company offersnetwork engineering services specializing in the IBM SNA datacommunications market. In its five years, Metaplex has carried outcontract projects for organizations including Cisco Systems, IBM andNovell.

Cisco Systems,Inc. is the leading global supplier of enterprisenetworks,including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-up access servers and networkmanagement software. These products, integrated by the CiscoInternetworkOperating System (Cisco IOS(TM)) link geographically dispersed LANs,WANsand IBM networks. Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and in theU.S. is traded under the NASDAQ symbol CSCO.

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Posted: Jul 12 08:35:23 1995