SAN JOSE, Calif., November 17, 2004 - Cisco Systems® today announced the winners of its 4th annual Cisco Growing with Technology Awards, which recognize growing organizations for their unique adoption of networking solutions to drive business success.

One grand-prize winner and two runners-up in each of five categories were selected from more than 700 applications received by Cisco for this year's contest. Representatives from Cisco worked with a diverse panel of industry experts to narrow the broad field of entrants and select the 15 winning companies.

"The Cisco Growing with Technology Awards program recognizes organizations that embrace technology in new and exciting ways," said David Morgan, CEO of D.W. Morgan Company, 2003 grand-prize winner and one of this year's judges. "Each organization illustrated the importance of harnessing the power that networking technology can bring to a business and community. The winners utilized technologies that were new to their organization in order to take their business to a higher level of agility and efficiency."

The winners in each of the five categories of the Cisco Growing with Technology Awards 2004 include:

Innovators in Customer Relationship Management

• Grand Prize: Commercial Communications, Inc. (250 employees), based in Hartland, Wis.
• Runners-up: JALowePlays (5 employees), based in Van Nuys, Calif.; and Peopleclick (300 employees), based in Raleigh, NC.

Innovators in Non-Profit

• Grand Prize: MentorNet (5 employees), based in San Jose, Calif.
• Runners-up: Ibero-American (50 employees), based in Albequerque, NM.; and Oakwood (350 employees), based in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Innovators in Operational Excellence

• Grand Prize: Central Utah Clinic (525 employees), based in Provo, Utah
• Runners-up: General Services of Virginia, Inc. (300 employees), based Winchester, Va.; and IdleAire Technologies (450 employees), based in Knoxville, Tenn.

Innovators in Public Sector

• Grand Prize: Broward Virtual Education (24 employees), based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
• Runners-up: Bryant University (300 employees), based in Smithfield, R.I.; and Harford Community College (450 employees), based in Bel Air, Md.

Innovators in Sales and Marketing

• Grand Prize: PowerPrint-ColorWays, Inc. (3 employees), based in Sunnyvale, Calif.
• Runners-up: WallStreetCorner.com (5 employees), based in Bluffton, S.C.; and IT Media, Inc. (3 employees), based Hillsborough, N.J.

The winners were recognized during an awards presentation ceremony last night at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Grand-prize winners receive $25,000 worth of Cisco networking equipment, and one complimentary Cisco networking assessment and consultation valued at $3,000. The first runners-up receive $15,000 worth of Cisco networking equipment, and the second runners-up receive $10,000 worth of Cisco networking equipment. In addition, winners will receive recognition through post-awards marketing outreach efforts.

"Selecting winners for the Cisco Growing with Technology Award was a challenging process for our judging panel since we received so many quality applications from companies who have dramatically improved their business through the use of technology," said Peter Alexander, vice president of Commercial Market Segment, Cisco Systems. "The winners have proven that there is a direct correlation between a company's network and its ongoing business success."

For further details on the Cisco Growing with Technology Awards, please visit www.cisco.com/go/technology_awards.