HP and Cisco to Deliver Pervasive Indoor Wireless Solution to Enterprise Customers

location based services

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 29, 2006 - HP and Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) today announced a joint effort focused on helping enterprise customers take advantage of a wide array of new applications and services based on Cisco's Pervasive Indoor Wireless technology.

The new applications and services include security, guest access, voice over Wi-Fi, and location-based services and allow for the creation of a variety of new applications, such as IT asset tracking, presence-based applications, dual-mode voice, and integrated intrusion detection and prevention.

HP will provide systems integration services for the new and enhanced products within Cisco's Unified Wireless Network Family, including the Cisco Catalyst 3750G Integrated Wireless LAN Controller and the Cisco Unified Wireless Network Software Release 4.0. The companies' joint work is intended to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs associated with WLAN services.

"This is a strategic effort from both companies to create a wireless foundation that enables a host of new applications," said Brian Brouillette, vice president, Technology Services, HP Services. "Through our efforts, customers can quickly and cost-effectively benefit from a range of new, scalable applications."

Cisco's Unified Wireless Network Solution can efficiently address the WLAN security, deployment, management and control issues facing enterprises. HP will build on Cisco's pervasive wireless platform to create a comprehensive enterprise network computing solution by providing design, integration and management services, and supporting this solution for customers.

"Our strategy has been to deliver a Unified Wireless Network architecture that features hardware, software and services integrated to deliver network scale, simplify deployment and drive down total cost of ownership," said Brett Galloway, vice president and general manager, Wireless Networking Business Unit, Cisco. "We are excited to work with HP to guide enterprise businesses to an intelligent network to accelerate applications, business processes and profitability."

Earlier this year, Cisco introduced a number of new and updated products that work with Cisco's Light Weight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP), a management protocol that allows the intelligence for a wireless network to be located centrally. By moving most of the intelligence to a centralized controller, the configuration time for an access point can be greatly reduced. This allows HP to provide faster deployment and expansion, as well as simplified management, of a Cisco Pervasive Indoor WLAN. Customers can now turn to HP's expertise in taking full advantage of LWAPP, whether it be with new Cisco deployments or when making firmware changes to existing Cisco 1200 IOS-based access points.

"HP and Cisco designed and implemented our new, wireless campus and we are enjoying added flexibility and vast improvements to our operating efficiency," said Yvon Fontaine, president, Université de Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. "Deploying new applications and services as a result of the new wireless network has brought us greater benefits. Our new Voice over IP application has cut costs and enabled us to provide increased service to our staff and students. For example, now staff members don't have to travel four hours for meetings at other campuses or incur expensive long-distance charges for conference calls. What was most surprising was that it all came together in just four weeks without any disruption in service."

Today's announcement is a component of HP's multi-vendor networking strategy. The announcement expands HP and Cisco's efforts to develop an intelligent information infrastructure that creates, stores and delivers strategic data, voice and video, when and where it is needed across an enterprise. It also builds on the companies' global, strategic alliance. Other solutions offered by the HP and Cisco alliance include intelligent buildings, IP telephony, integrated service management, HP OpenView network management, mobile and wireless, virtualized data centers and network storage solutions.

More information about Cisco's Unified Wireless Network Solution is available at www.cisco.com/go/wireless. More information about HP's systems integration services is available at www.hp.com/go/services