NEW DELHI - June 11, 2003 - Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), today announced that Sify Limited (NASDAQ National Markets: SIFY), India's premier Internet, networks and e-commerce services company, has deployed India's largest Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based network using Cisco® 12000, 7600 and 7200 series routers. The network will enable Sify to address two key emerging networking segments within India: secure virtual private network (VPN) services as well as reliable Internet gateways to the United States.
Mr. R. Ramaraj, CEO & managing director of Sify said, "Sify has had a long, successful relationship with Cisco. On evaluation, we found that Cisco's MPLS-based solutions had the best ability to scale our network as demand grew, allowing us to allocate bandwidth according to customer requirements. The big difference for Sify as a customer was that Cisco focused on business benefits and was able to demonstrate the value of their solutions in the long term."
Some of the significant value-added advantages that Sify can now offer customers through MPLS-based VPNs are service-level agreements (SLAs) to back up quality of service (QoS) assurances. In addition, Sify can now offer their customers highly secure and reliable point-to-point connectivity between their enterprise sites. MPLS-based services are also much easier to manage and can be easily provisioned.
MPLS VPN technology allows the classification and prioritizing of applications that are mission critical according to each customer requirement. Additionally, the end customer need not change its existing IP addresses.
Manoj Chugh, president for Cisco Systems® operations in India said, "Cisco's MPLS-based VPN solutions are able to combine cost advantages with comprehensive security, scalability and ability to manage to agreed QoS. This will help SIFY expand its service offerings while increasing its network efficiency in a secure and a cost-effective way. This places SIFY on par with other large global Internet service providers that have deployed MPLS in the core of their networks."
An additional feature of MPLS-based VPNs is that the service provider core structure is not revealed so it appears to be as invisible as the Frame Relay and ATM counterparts, reducing opportunities for hackers. They also allow for network-based VPN services that are completely transparent to any applications, allowing for security on any application the end consumer might be operating. Further, the MPLS- based VPN solution has a mechanism in place to limit the impact of denial-of-service attacks to the VPN where they originated.
About Sify
Sify (NASDAQ National Markets: SIFY), is the largest network and e-commerce services company in India, offering end-to-end solutions with a comprehensive range of products delivered over a common Internet backbone infrastructure. This Internet backbone reaches 55 points of presence in India, representing an estimated 90% of the established PC base in the country. A significant part of the company's revenue is derived from Corporate Services, which include corporate connectivity, network and communications solutions, security, network management services and hosting. As of March 31, 2003, a host of blue chip customers used Sify's corporate service offerings. The company's network services, data center operations and customer relationship management are accredited ISO 9001:2000. For more information about Sify, visit www.sifycorp.com.
