Siemens and 3Com Select General Manager and Board Members for
Planned Converged Networking Joint Venture
Top Executives From Siemens, 3Com and Siemens' New Unisphere
Solutions Selected to Head Joint Venture to Drive Competitiveness
and Strategic Direction
MUNICH, Germany and SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 17, 1999--
Siemens and 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) today announced
the selection of senior management for the joint venture that they are
forming to develop converged voice/data solutions for enterprises.
Hans Schwarz, currently senior vice president and general manager
of Enterprise Data Networking for Siemens Information and
Communication Networks, Inc., will become general manager of
the joint venture. He joined Siemens in 1973 and has held
senior-level management positions in various technology groups
within the company in both Europe and the United States. In his
most recent position with Siemens, he directed sales and
development of enterprise network products as well as development
for switch, networking and application products in the U.S. Under
Schwarz's direction, the joint venture will develop products for
business enterprises. Unisphere Solutions, Inc., a new Siemens
company, will manage Siemens' activities in the joint venture
"The joint venture will have access to critical resources for
convergence and has the full commitment of both parent companies
for establishing world-class technology leadership with the
converged networking products under development," said Schwarz.
Siemens and 3Com have also named four executives to become
members of the joint venture's board of directors. From Siemens
they are Tom Burkardt, chairman and president of Castle Networks,
Inc., which Siemens announced it is acquiring and to become part
of Unisphere Solutions; and Bernd Kuhlin, senior vice president,
LAN Products, Siemens Information and Communication Networks
Group. Burkardt founded Castle in 1997. From 3Com they are
Janice Roberts, senior vice president, business development; and
Edgar Masri, senior vice president, 3Com Network Systems
Business Unit. Roberts is responsible for 3Com's business
development worldwide, including acquisitions, investments and
emerging business opportunities. Masri is responsible for 3Com's
broad range of networking system solutions for enterprises, carriers
and ISPs. Plans for Joint Venture Proceeding
The joint venture planning team is meeting its milestones to bring
together the best of breed talent, experience and core technologies
for converged networks. Appointing proven management leadership
for the joint venture further emphasizes 3Com's and Siemens'
strong commitment to their shared vision for convergence of voice
and data over a single network -- a way to provide businesses
significant telecommunications cost-savings and powerful new
business applications.
"We now have named a strong, dedicated management team for the
joint venture and are ready to further develop our vision for
converged networks," said Janice Roberts, senior vice president,
business development for 3Com. "We believe that the prospects for
our relationship look even broader now that we will be working
closely with the Unisphere Solutions team. This will enhance our
ability to move fast and to evolve with each company's separate, yet
complementary, business objectives."
"The planned Siemens and 3Com joint venture will be a key element
of our enterprise strategy," said Martin C. Clague, president and
CEO of Unisphere Solutions. "We believe that the team assembled
by the companies is second to none in this industry and I am
looking forward to our future collaboration." Solution Strengths
Emerging from Complementary Core Competencies
Certain joint development activities that Siemens and 3Com
undertook under the existing alliance have already resulted in
significant advances for both companies.
Last year, Siemens began shipping the LAN-based real-time
communication solution HiNet(TM) RC 3000 call processing
software. The HiNet RC 3000 enables voice and video connections,
automatic call distribution and call-center applications with
corresponding Quality of Service (QoS) at a level of quality
previously possible only in telephone networks to be delivered over
an existing LAN. The HiNet RC 3000 portfolio of products,
services and solutions comprises a gateway that enables
interworking between Hicom communication systems and LANs as
well as connectivity to the Public Switched Telephone Network
(PSTN), a client, a web-based management tool and applications
that are easily customized to a customer's requirements.
Since January, 3Com has been offering customers the
SuperStack(R) II PBX 1000 and 3Com digital phones and adapters.
SuperStack II is 3Com's brand of stackable local area network
(LAN) hubs, switches, remote access and wide area networking
products. The 3Com PBX is based on Siemens Hicom(TM) 150E
technology and offers businesses the advantages of integrating their
LAN and PBX equipment in a single stackable system, managed by
a common application. Hicom is Siemens' leading communications
server brand.
Through the existing alliance and the planned joint venture, Siemens
and 3Com will continue to develop enhancements to their stackable
LAN telephony and gateway products - aimed at networks of up to
500 users. The joint venture plans to apply these technologies to
develop additional highly scalable chassis products based on
3Com's CoreBuilder(R) products. CoreBuilder systems are geared
toward large sites primarily consisting of 500 to 5,000 users.
Joint venture products will be designed to provide telephony-quality
availability to ensure reliable dial tone and to support real-time,
interactive multimedia traffic. Expected products include a range of
multimedia exchanges* for voice and data, LAN telephony
gateways and Ethernet phones and adapters. Initial applications for
these products include voice-enhanced PC collaboration and
conferencing, call centers for Internet-based retailers, and customer
service help desks for a variety of industries, such as financial
services, consumer product manufacturing, healthcare, government
and education. About Siemens' Information and Communication
Networks Group
The Siemens Information and Communication Networks Group
was established on October 1, 1998 as part of the restructuring of
the Siemens information and communication activities. The Group
has around 60,000 employees and sales of about $14 billion,
making it one of the world's leading suppliers of end-to-end
solutions for voice, data and mobile networks. Information and
Communication Networks provides products, systems, solutions,
servicing and support for setting up, operating and maintaining
complete corporate and carrier networks. It also offers ancillary
services ranging from network planning and financial consultancy
through startup support to user training. Further information on this
Siemens Group can be found on the Internet at
siemens.com. About 3Com Corporation
With more than 200 million customers worldwide, 3Com
Corporation connects more people to information in more ways than
any other networking company. 3Com delivers innovative
information access products and network system solutions to large,
medium and small enterprises; carriers and network service
providers; PC OEMs; and consumers. 3Com - More connected(TM)
For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at
www.3com.com or the press site at www.3com.com/pressbox.
About Unisphere Solutions, Inc.
Unisphere Solutions, Inc., based in Burlington, Mass., designs,
markets and services converged networking solutions to Service
Provider and Enterprise customers. Founded in March 1999 by
Siemens, the company brings together the know-how of over 500
people, concentrating assets from both Siemens Information and
Communication Networks Group and several technology companies
being acquired in the United States to deliver end-to-end networking
solutions for converged networks. The Company leverages its
relationship as a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens to gain access
to a channel of Siemens Information and Communication Networks'
26,000 sales and support people worldwide. Further information on
Unisphere Solutions can be found on the Internet at
unispheresolutions.com
The plans and terms for the joint venture expressed in this press
release are currently being negotiated by 3Com Corporation and
Siemens AG and are subject to change in the definitive agreements
for the joint venture. Safe Harbor Act Statement Under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain of the comments
and information in this news release are forward looking and
involve risk and uncertainties that could significantly impact the
results, including but not limited to, dependence on new technology
and intellectual property, successful consummation of transactions
in negotiation, dependence on the global communications,
networking, consumer electronics and data storage industries,
competition and pricing pressures; and other risks detailed from time
to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commissions."
3Com, CoreBuilder and SuperStack are registered trademarks and
More connected. is a trademark of 3Com Corporation. Hicom,
HiNet and HiNet RC 3000 are registered trademarks of Siemens AG.
CONTACT: Siemens
Alice Andors, 202-434-4820
alice.andors@sc.siemens.com
or
3Com Public Relations
Anthony Petrucci, 508-323-1547
anthony_petrucci@3Com.com
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