Company
News
MADGE NETWORKS EMBARKS ON
PHASE TWO OF THE MADGE
PERSPECTIVE STRATEGY
Wexham Springs, UNITED KINGDOM, 3 December 1998 - Madge Networks
(NASDAQ:MADGF), a worldwide provider of networking solutions, has commenced the second
phase of the Madge Perspective™ strategy for taking Token Ring into the 21st century,
which involves the development of third layer switching, Token Ring-Ethernet integration
technology and significantly higher density, multi-gigabit High Speed Token Ring (HSTR)
switching solutions. This move follows the company's successful implementation of the
strategy's first stage, which included the launch of HSTR and enhanced backbone and
workgroup switching solutions.
With reports on the growth of the Token Ring market - such as Dell'Oro Group's figures
showing that port shipments of switched Token Ring have more than doubled from Q1 to Q3
this year over the same period in 1997 - Madge Networks has re-affirmed its commitment to
continued implementation of the Madge Perspective strategy. Launched mid-year, the
strategy was designed to meet the current and future networking needs of the 20 million
Token Ring users worldwide. Stage two encompasses further technology development to
protect and build upon their existing infrastructure.
"The Token Ring market is buoyant and dynamic, with a huge installed base of users
who rely on the technology for their mission-critical networks. Madge is proud to have
addressed these users' needs by launching products this year designed to extend the life
of installed networks while reducing the total cost of ownership. In 1999 and beyond, we
will continue to devote our energies and resources to deliver on our Madge Perspective
strategy for meeting the requirements of Token Ring users worldwide," said Simon
Gawne, vice president of Token Ring marketing and business development at Madge Networks.
Madge Perspective - the first phase
Addressing user needs for scalable bandwidth from current 16Mbps to 100Mbps, Madge
announced this year a comprehensive range of High Speed Token Ring (HSTR) solutions. These
include HSTR modules for Madge's Smart Ringswitch™ family of awarding winning Token
Ring switches and the Smart 100/16/4 PCI-HS Ringnode™ adapter for high performance
servers.
For Token Ring and Ethernet users deploying ATM backbones in LAN and campus
environments, Madge brought to market its the Collage™ 750 ATM switch for the
provision of high performance switching to relieve backbone congestion and support
multi-services applications.
Madge has also launched products aimed at reducing the total cost of ownership. These
include the company's Smart DeskStream™ switch, the most cost-effective and flexible
means of switching at the desktop, and the Madge Presto PCI Plus™ adapter, the
world's lowest priced Token Ring network interface card. These products are complemented
by the competitively priced HSTR and Smart 16/4 PCI Ringnode™ Mk3 (WoL) adapters,
which feature remote wake up and advanced power management technologies to reduce further
the cost of support to networked PCs.
In addition, all products launched this year have been designed to be easy to install
and manage, keeping costs of deployment down. To meet user needs for further network
manageability and resilience, Madge launched TrueView/32 Enterprise™ graphical
management software for switched Token Ring environments.
Details of Madge's products and its white paper "Madge Perspective: Blueprint for
Token Ring in the 21st Century" are available for download from the Madge web site at
www.madge.com
About Madge Networks
Founded in 1986, Madge Networks (NASDAQ: MADGF) is a worldwide supplier of advanced
networking solutions. A manufacturer of award-winning adapter cards, workgroup switching
and backbone products, Madge has pioneered advances in Token Ring, ISDN, video networking
and ATM technologies. The company is also at the forefront of developments in High Speed
Token Ring (HSTR) technology, and is a founding member of the HSTR Alliance. Madge is
committed to providing key components of converged networks - networks which handle
simultaneous data, video and voice traffic. Madge's main business centres are located at
Wexham Springs, United Kingdom and Eatontown, New Jersey. The company serves its
international customer base through a global network of distributors and resellers.
Information about Madge's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the
World Wide Web at www.madge.com.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act Statement
Investors should take note that certain statements in this press release are
forward-looking and may not give full weight to all of the potential risks (e.g.,
potential delays and difficulties in developing and manufacturing high technology
products, intense industry competition, changing industry standards and changed priorities
and resource allocation resulting from these and other factors). Forward-looking
statements included in this press release include statements which refer to the Madge
Perspective strategy, commencing the second phase of the Madge Perspective strategy,
development of third layer switching, Token Ring-Ethernet integration technology and
significantly higher density, multi-gigabit HSTR switching solutions, further technology
development to protect and build upon existing infrastructure, the Token Ring market,
delivering on the Madge Perspective strategy in 1999, Madge's white paper "Madge
Perspective: Blueprint for Token Ring in the 21st Century" and other statements which
are not completely historical. Actual results, actions or events could differ materially.
For more information on risk factors, please refer to Madge's SEC filings, including
Madge's SEC filings on Form 6-K and Form 20F.
Madge, the Madge logo, Collage, Madge Perspective, Madge Presto, Smart DeskStream,
Smart Ringswitch, Smart Ringnode and TrueView/32 Enterprise are trademarks, and in some
jurisdictions may be registered trademarks, of Madge Networks or its affiliated companies.
Other trademarks appearing in this document are the property of their respective owners.
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