Cisco Systems Awarded Prestigious SMB Award at GITEX Saudi

Saudi Arabia, April 25, 2005 – Cisco Systems was today awarded, the "Best SMB (Small and Medium Business) Solution" prize for its 'Integrated Services Routers' at GITEX Saudi 2005, the kingdom's largest gathering of IT services and solution providers. The prestigious award instituted by Arabian Business, one of the leading business titles in the region was given to Cisco Systems at the gala 'Arabian Business Awards Dinner' by HRH Prince Sattam Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, Deputy Governor of Riyadh, and Walid Akkawi, Publishing Director, ITP.

Cisco System's Integrated Services Routers were launched at GITEX Dubai 2004 and they are the industry's first routers to deliver secure, wire-speed data, voice, video and other advanced services to small and medium businesses (SMBs) and enterprise branch offices as well as to service providers for their managed network services offerings. Founded on more than 20 years of innovation and leadership, the new Cisco 1800 Series, Cisco 2800 Series and Cisco 3800 Series integrated services routers are the first to provide customers with an infrastructure that enables fast, secure access to today's mission-critical business applications with optimised security, while establishing a foundation for tomorrow's advanced communications requirements of the fast growing SMB sector in the Middle East.

Commenting on the award, Dr. Badr Al Badr, Country Manager, Cisco Systems Saudi Arabia said, "Cisco Systems is committed to helping small and medium businesses in Saudi and the rest of the Middle East to become more productive, responsive, efficient, and secure and hence enabling them to maximise the return on their investment and offering them the right solutions for growth."

"Cisco Systems is proud to receive such as recognition as it reinforces our drive to provide the best in class solutions for this growing sector", he added.

Cisco Systems' Integrated Services Routers provides the industry's most comprehensive security services embedded within the router. The routers also provide the foundation for unmatched voice performance. SMB businesses are particularly seeking technologies that combine best-of-class data, voice and security services into a single system enabling rapid deployment, as well as opportunities to protect, grow and optimise their businesses.