PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 20, 1996 - Hewlett-Packard Company and CiscoSystems, Inc. today announced their commitment to a significant marketingand technical relationship. The relationship expands an existing agreementbetween the two companies to ensure full internetworking compatibility andinteroperability for a wider range of customers and channels. Itcomplements the long-standing relationship between the two companies,wherein HP provides authorized maintenance to Cisco products worldwide andacts as a Cisco value-added reseller.
HP and Cisco together provide a complete end-to-end networking solution forcustomers. The strengths of the two companies span the internetworkingrequirements from small to central offices providing them with thenecessary products from routers, switches, hubs, LAN adapters and networkmanagement.
Through the relationship, HP and Cisco say they will develop an integratedrouter module that HP will market for its AdvanceStack hubs. Pluggingdirectly into the HP AdvanceStack expansion slot, the router module willrun Cisco's Internetwork OperatingSystem (Cisco IOS(tm)) softwareand provide customers with a fully interoperable, integrated routing-hubsolution ideal for branch-office applications. The integrated router moduleshould be available from HP by the Fall 1996.
Cisco IOS, which has become the industry standard for value-addedinternetworking software and services, enables application data to transmitsmoothly through devices across the network.
"With Cisco IOS and 100VG as the unifying elements, Cisco and HP willprovide customers with improved flexibility and interoperability whenbuilding workgroups and enterprise backbone networks," said Peter Clarke,director of business development at Cisco Systems.
The relationship also calls for Cisco to develop 100VG-AnyLAN interfacesfor some of its routing platforms during 1996-97. Cisco plans to roll out100VG interfaces for the high end of its product line in mid-1996, initiallyintroducing modular interfaces for its Cisco 7500 series ofrouters. Thenew interfaces will enable HP 100VG workgroups to easily connect to Ciscobackbones, giving customers superior performance and advanced functionalityfor multimedia and other high-speed applications. In the future, Ciscoplans to migrate these interfaces onto lower price/performance platforms.
"Cisco and HP are committed to supporting industry standards and deliveringsolutions to our customers. By responding to customer requests for 100VGtechnology standards, we are taking a leadership role in providing ourcustomers with total networking solutions," said Gary McAnally, generalmanager of HP's Roseville (Calif.) Networks Division.
In addition, both companies will incorporate a full cross-referencemarketing program, including joint sales calls, technical support, networkdesign assistance and product demonstrations. Under the program, Cisco willpromote HP's stackable, shared-media hubs as fully tested, complimentaryproducts to its customers, while HP will reference Cisco as its preferredrouter vendor.
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the leadingglobal supplier ofinternetworking solutions,including routers, LAN and ATM switches, dial-upaccess servers and network management software. These products,integratedby the Cisco IOS software, linkgeographically dispersed LANs, WANs and IBMnetworks. Cisco Systems news and product/service information are availableat World Wide Web site http://www.cisco.com. Cisco Systems is headquarteredin San Jose, Calif.
HP's Roseville (Calif.) Networks Division and HP's Network Server Divisionfocus on delivering a complete line of network workgroup solutions. TheNetwork Server Division delivers the NetServer line of file servers and isone of the fastest-growing file-server suppliers. Roseville NetworksDivision is a leading supplier of stackable hubs, print servers andhigh-speed network products. Its products include AdvanceStack 10/100VGAnyLAN stackable hubs, AdvanceStack 10/100 switches, AdvanceStack routers,OpenView network-management applications, JetDirect print servers and10Base-T and 10/100VG LAN Adapters.
Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing,communications and measurement products and services recognized forexcellence in quality and support. HP has 102,300 employees and had revenueof $31.5 billion in its 1995 fiscal year.
Posted: Tue Feb 20 11:03:16 PST 1996
