News Release

Vietcombank Works with Cisco to Strengthen Local Area Network Infrastructure

Newly upgraded network based on Gigabit Ethernet technology will provide high- speed connections with high availability at bank's headquarters
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Oct 11, 2001



HANOI, Vietnam -- 11 October 2001 -- Vietcombank (VCB), one of the largest commercial banks in Vietnam, has completed the installation of a high-speed local are network (LAN) with technology and solutions from Cisco Systems, the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. The local area network will be the platform for all transactions in VCB's headquarters as well as integrate traffic from a diverse range of agencies including VCB's Data Center, transaction offices, and functional units. It also provides VCB with a leading-edge communications platform from which it can compete with banks in the region and globally.

VCB decided to upgrade its LAN infrastructure to meet the demand for focused management and the development of new valued-added services. The network was designed to connect the Data Center to the bank's 24 branch offices across the country. In addition, it serves a wide range of applications at VCB at high speed and high security.

The network also provides VCB with high availability with full redundancy to ensure all the transactions flow seamlessly. This will be the fastest and most robust network ever built in Vietnam and marks an important milestone for Cisco's market leading LAN solutions.

Built with Cisco Catalyst 6500s, the network connects to mission-critical servers at VCB. Cisco Catalyst 6500 provides a multi-layer switching solution for enterprises and service providers. These lines of products also meet the rising demand of voice, video and data integration, a direction most communication networks are taking in the world today.

All functional units were equipped with a diverse range of Cisco equipment such as the Cisco 3600, 2600 and 1700 series routers, which provide the Internet connectivity for the end-users at VCB.

"The upgrade of the network not only met our demand for greater performance and reliability but also ensured the expansion of applications and future development of VCB. We highly appreciate Cisco's solution and FPT's talented network integration," said Dao Minh Tuan, Director of IT Center of VCB.

"The LAN at VCB not only creates a competitive advantage for VCB compared to foreign banks but also provides a new model for other local banks to follow. The success of the network results from the tight co-operation among VCB, Cisco, and FPT," said Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Deputy Director, FIS Department, FPT Corp., a Cisco-certified network systems integrator.

"We were very pleased when VCB decided to upgrade their LAN with Cisco's technology. Cisco has a lot of experience in powering some of the biggest financial institutions in the world including ANZ, Citicorp.,Bank of America, Bank of China, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Chase Manhattan, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Merrill Lynch. With the implementation of the biggest LAN in Vietnam for VCB, we have reached an important milestone in Vietnam's networking market," said Ha Huy Hao, Country Manager, Cisco Systems Vietnam.

About Vietcombank

Vietcombank (VCB) is one of the biggest commercial banks in Vietnam and provides a wide range of banking services to businesses and organisations in the country, including intrabanking payment, trade finance, electronic banking and credit card transactions. With its head office in Hanoi, VCB has branch operations in 22 of the largest towns and cities as well as 30 sub-branches.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Cisco news and information are available at www.cisco.com.

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