TORONTO, ON - August 10, 2000 - Cisco Systems Canada today announced Star Data as the first Canadian Cisco Powered Network to achieve the Hosted Applications certification. Designed as an extension to the current Cisco Powered Network program, the new certification is targeted toward ASPs who want to differentiate their hosted applications service offerings and provide customers with a higher level of reliability, security and manageability.

Wide scale application hosting across the Internet demands an intelligent, end-to-end networking infrastructure to satisfy customer expectations for integration, reliability, security and performance. ASPs achieve CPN Hosted Applications certification through a complete assessment of their end-to-end Cisco network infrastructure and specific business and desktop application design elements. The Cisco Hosted Applications lab is used to verify that application connectivity and reliability meet CPN benchmarking requirements.

Certified ASPs are committed to maintaining high levels of network quality by building their services with Cisco solutions, thereby giving customers all the benefits of an end-to-end network, including: simplified, cost-effective network management; higher network availability; more reliable, scalable and secure services; and faster deployment of New World services.

"The selection of Star Data Systems as the first Canadian Cisco Powered Network to achieve the Hosted Applications certification demonstrates that Star Data is the leader in delivering superior financial application services," says Alan Hutton, CEO, Star Data Systems. "Our company endured rigorous testing in the Cisco Hosted Applications Lab to meet the CPN benchmarking requirements."

As Canada's first ASP-certified Cisco Powered Network, Star Data offers business-critical services to more than 18,000 customers, ranging from large financial institutions and national investment firms to individual advisors at over 900 locations across Canada. Star Data is the leading supplier of online, real-time financial and transaction processing services to Canada's investment community. Information services include stock market quotations across North America, analytical support and corporate and financial news. Transaction processing services include shareholder and portfolio management and real-time brokerage accounting systems.

"The new CPN Hosted Applications certification gives customers another way to choose an ASP to best fit their business needs and meet their standards of performance, reliability and security," says Andrew Sage, Canadian marketing manager, Cisco Systems Canada. "Cisco Systems Canada is proud to announce Star Data as the first CPN Hosted Applications certified ASP in Canada. Star Data offers technologically advanced information services and, coupled with its Cisco certified network, gives its customers a high-quality hosted applications solution to help redefine how the financial services industry does business."

About Cisco Systems Canada Co.

Cisco Systems - with $16.7 billion (US) in revenues and over 30,000 employees - is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Established in 1990, Cisco Systems Canada employs over 500 Canadians and is headquartered in Toronto, with field sales and service offices across the country. In addition, Cisco also has a state-of-the-art development centre in Kanata, ON - focusing on the development of optical internetworking solutions to build the next generation of the Internet backbone.

The Internet is changing the way people work, live, learn and play - and Cisco Systems Canada is a primary agent of this change and a compelling example of the power of this revolution. By widely deploying business solutions based on the Internet, Cisco Systems saves over $825 million (US) per year in operating costs, has grown revenues by 100% in two years and has increased customer satisfaction at the same time. Cisco produces networking solutions for enterprise organizations, service providers and small/emerging businesses. Additional information on the company and its products can be found at http://www.cisco.com/ca.

For additional information:

• Lisa Daly
  Strategic/Ampersand Inc.
  (416) 961-5595 ext. 438
  Pager: 1-800-68-CISCO
  E-mail: lisad@stratamp.com