HOUSTON, Texas, November 27, 2000 - Kent Datacomm, a division of Kent Electronics Corporation (NYSE:KNT), announced today that it has joined the Cisco Professional Services Partner (PSP) Program. By qualifying for the Professional Services Program, Kent Datacomm demonstrates its commitment to providing internetworking service and support to joint Cisco and Kent Datacomm customers through continuous investment in Cisco System's training and technology. Cisco's PSP Program is designed to help enterprise, service provider and small/medium customers remain current with the rapid pace of technological change in today's business environment.

"The Cisco PSP Program offers qualified participants to deliver professional services for planning, design, implementation, operation and optimization of complex end-to-end networking solutions," said Patrick Finn, Senior Director of Global Enablement Services for Cisco. "Customers who choose to work with a Cisco Professional Services Partner can be assured of the highest level of technical knowledge and support. Kent Datacomm's recognition as a Cisco PSP member illustrates its commitment to providing that industry-leading support."

Mark A. Zerbe, Kent Executive Vice President and President of Kent Datacomm, commented, "We are very excited to participate in this program with Cisco. We look forward to this program enabling us to expand our customer base and broaden our reach to the networking marketplace. Our customers can be confident that we have achieved this recognition as a result of our attention to customer service combined with our high level of technical expertise."

Delivering Market-Leading Service & Support

Members in the Cisco Professional Services Partner Program have completed rigorous capability assessments, demonstrating expertise in specific Cisco technologies and solutions. Qualified PSP companies demonstrate customer satisfaction through ongoing measurements and statistics, and make significant investments in the continued development and enhancement of professional services skills and business, enabling them to deliver market-leading service and support.

Through its PSP Program membership, Kent Datacomm also becomes a member within the Cisco New World Ecosystem Partner Program in the area of Systems Integration. The Cisco New World Ecosystem is a community of technology and deployment companies enabling service providers to rapidly deploy innovative services.

About Kent Datacomm

Kent Datacomm was awarded Cisco's 1999 "Best Year-Over-Year Performance: U.S. National Direct VAR" and was ranked as Cisco's fourth largest national direct VAR in 1999. Kent Datacomm is among the country's fastest growing integrators of voice, video and data communications networking solutions. Providing its customers with best-in-class professional and technical services and technology, Kent Datacomm offers end-to-end solutions for customers' spanning networking needs from cabling infrastructure design and installation to network design and installation to maintenance and support services down to the desktop.

About Kent Electronics Corporation

Kent Electronics is among the largest publicly traded specialty electronics distributors and network integrators. Kent Components provides distribution and value-added services with a focus on interconnect, passive and electromechanical components. Kent Datacomm provides complete end-to-end networking solutions, including design, consulting, source selection, product configuration and installation, and warranty and technical support.

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