KANATA, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 1999--
Newly Announced Crosskeys Resolve Ni Will Benefit
From Additional Paths to Market
CrossKeys Systems Corporation (Nasdaq:CKEY)(TSE:CKY), a leading
supplier of software for telecom service providers, today announced
that Ascend Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND), a leader in wide area
networking (WAN) and Intelligent Network (IN) solutions for service
providers and users of the next-generation public network, will
co-sell and co-market the CrossKeys Resolve(R) software portfolio.
Ascend's worldwide sales force will offer the CrossKeys carrier-class
service and network performance management software to its installed
base and prospective customers.
"The CrossKeys Resolve portfolio features a unique customer view
of service level management for carrier-class networks," says Pam
Dodge, Director of Product Marketing, Network Management Systems,
Ascend Communications, Inc. "The new addition to the portfolio,
CrossKeys Resolve Ni, complements the solution we offer our customers.
Service providers will use this application to analyze and improve the
performance of their telecommunication networks. The demand for
network intelligence software has never been greater."
Ascend will include the CrossKeys Resolve portfolio as part of a
complete solution for telecommunication service providers. The
CrossKeys product works with Ascend's NavisXtend statistics server
product. The CrossKeys software enables Ascend to fulfill the service
provider's need for integrated service and network performance
management. In particular, the CrossKeys Resolve portfolio uniquely
addresses the requirements of carrier-class service providers. It
solves the additional challenges carriers must face due to network
size and traffic volume, the need to integrate with legacy systems,
diversity of technologies, and customer demands.
The necessary development and testing of the CrossKeys Resolve
interface for Ascend's Navis Network Management System was completed
through a previously announced Technology Alliance (October 15, 1998).
"The new CrossKeys network performance management solution,
CrossKeys Resolve Ni, will be of tremendous interest to the Ascend
customer base," says John Selwyn, President and CEO, CrossKeys.
"Service provider customers can now benefit from a turnkey solution,
with Ascend and CrossKeys, to address all of their requirements for
network and service performance management."
About Ascend Communications
Ascend Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq:ASND) develops, manufactures,
sells and services wide area networking solutions for
telecommunications carriers, Internet service providers and corporate
customers worldwide.
For more information about Ascend and its products, please visit
the Ascend Web site at www.ascend.com, or send e-mail to
info@ascend.com. For Investor Relations, please call our
communications hotline at 800/648-3059 or 760/704-4423 (outside the US
and Canada). Additional investor information can also be accessed on
our website at www.ascend.com/investor/. Ascend is headquartered at
One Ascend Plaza, 1701 Harbor Bay Parkway, Alameda, Calif. 94502;
phone 800/ASCEND4 and fax 510/814-2300.
In January 1999, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan
of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") with Lucent Technologies Inc.
("Lucent"), pursuant to which, each outstanding share of Ascend common
stock will be exchanged for 0.825 shares of Lucent common stock an
each outstanding option or warrant to purchase Ascend common stock
will be converted into an option or warrant to purchase Lucent common
stock (adjusted for the exchange ratio).
In February 1999, Lucent announced a two-for-one stock split,
payable on April 1, 1999, to shareholders of record as of March 5,
1999. Under the terms of the Merger Agreement, the exchange ratio will
be adjusted for the effect of this stock split and any similar changes
in the capitalization of Lucent. About CrossKeys
CrossKeys Systems Corporation ( www.crosskeys.com ) is a leading
developer of performance management solutions for over 170 of the
world's telecommunication service providers, helping them gain a
competitive advantage in deregulated markets. CrossKeys combines a
commitment to research and development with experience in the world's
most demanding telecommunication markets to deliver highly advanced
software applications. A leading supplier to major telecommunication
equipment suppliers, CrossKeys products help service providers deliver
differentiated services, implement new technologies, and manage
multiple vendor networks. CrossKeys has been ISO 9001 certified since
1995.
CrossKeys Systems Corporation is a public company whose common
shares are listed for trading on NASDAQ (CKEY) in the United States
and on The Toronto Stock Exchange (CKY) in Canada.
CrossKeys and logo are registered trade marks of CrossKeys
Systems Corporation. All other trade marks are the property of their
respective holders and are acknowledged by CrossKeys Systems
Corporation. The terms "partner" and "alliance" mean that CrossKeys
and the other party have agreed to cooperate to achieve certain
objectives; however, no agency relationship, partnership, or joint
ownership of a legal entity is to be inferred or implied by these
terms.
Backgrounder attached
See Related Releases
March 3, 1999 -- New application, CrossKeys Resolve Ni, manages
performance of carrier-class networks
January 21/99 -- CrossKeys adds Internet Protocol support to
Resolve service and network management software
October 13/98 -- New Release of CrossKeys Resolve Extends
Multivendor Offering to Include Ascend ATM Support
Backgrounder
Ascend to Co-Sell CrossKeys Resolve
The CrossKeys and Ascend Alliance
CrossKeys and Ascend announced a technology-focused alliance on
October 15, 1998. This alliance enabled the companies to work together
on complementary software for telecommunications service and network
management solutions.
Specifically, the cooperative project addressed interoperability
between the Ascend Navis(TM) suite of network management products and
CrossKeys Resolve service level management applications. The alliance
verified Ascend-CrossKeys product integration. Ascend and CrossKeys
can now confidently extend a comprehensive solution to service
providers worldwide. This has led to the commercial arrangements of
the formal Partnership Agreement.
Ascend's products and customers
Ascend solutions span across the access, edge and core layers of
the wide area network (WAN) and offer users security, network
management and Quality of Service (QoS). Its primary customer
categories include:
-- Carriers -- Ameritech, Bell Atlantic, Deutsche Telekom
-- Internet Service Providers -- GTE Internetworking, PSINet, UUNet
-- Alternative Carriers -- Frontier, Level 3, Qwest, Williams
Communications
-- Enterprise -- DirectTV, Kinko's, Nintendo of America
CrossKeys products and how they fit with Ascend
CrossKeys Resolve provides Ascend with high-end, carrier-scale
performance management software. This software is integral to the
complete solution Ascend offers to the world's major service
providers, especially to its carrier and alternative carrier markets.
Ascend's Navis network management product collects performance data
from the network. CrossKeys Resolve sits alongside Ascend's Navis and
draws the necessary information from it for service analysis, customer
reporting, and network performance management.
Why CrossKeys Resolve?
CrossKeys Resolve software brings several unique attributes to
telecommunications service management. These include its carrier-scale
robustness, flexibility and a complete perspective on the network.
Carrier-scale refers to the robust data warehousing and analysis
capability of the software, enabling it to manage over 100,000 service
components (physical devices or virtual paths) the benchmark of the
industry. This is vital when working with the largest service
providers in the world. Flexibility refers to the customizable views
and service level agreements (SLA) parameters of CrossKeys Resolve.
Finally, the software was developed from the beginning to look at the
network from the broad perspective of overall service or network
rather than from simply an outage or event basis. The service
management application, CrossKeys Resolve Si, is complemented by the
new network performance management application, CrossKeys Resolve Ni.
Service providers can now select one supplier -- CrossKeys -- to
address all of their network and service performance management
requirements.
How the business activities will work
CrossKeys products will be referenced by the Ascend sales force
directly present in 22 countries. The partnership enables Ascend to
include CrossKeys Resolve in its specifications for proposals to
telecommunications service providers. CrossKeys will support such a
proposal by directly representing its software's value to the service
provider. The Partnership furthers relations and means service
provider customers can count on full support from both companies.
--30--MJB/ho*
CONTACT: CrossKeys Systems Corporation
John Blackmore, 613/599-2300 ext. 8936
E-Mail: jblackmore@crosskeys.com
Web Site: crosskeys.com
or
Ascend Communications
Rob Bunnell, 978/952-1283
E-Mail: rob.bunnell@ascend.com
Web Site: ascend.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA NEW YORK
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMED
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS PRODUCT
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