Intellipath Acquires Switch Family

LUMBERTON, N.J. -- IntelliPath Corporation, a provider of leading automated connectivity solutions, today announced that it is purchasing a family of enterprise-class physical layer network connectivity switches from Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. These products, now under the IntelliPath family name of Universal Connectivity System™ (UCS), help customers simplify their physical layer network infrastructure by automating end-to-end network path management of fiber and copper environments. The UCS family is the most scalable and versatile automated connectivity technology on the market today with support for over 4,000 ports and LAN, SAN, MAN and WAN interfaces.

The UCS product line has an installed base of over 1,000,000 connectivity ports and an impressive user base of both Fortune 100 and federal government agencies. The user base includes over one-third of all Fortune 100 companies as well as important federal government agencies, with numerous installations around the world.

"At the core of IT is the physical layer network infrastructure - which can become operationally complex and expensive to manage across large environments," said Brad O'Neill, Senior Analyst at Taneja Group. "The increasing adoption of blade servers, network-attached storage, and the evolution towards all-IP infrastructures are trends that further complicate physical infrastructure management. IntelliPath's connectivity system brings automation and simplicity to the underlying infrastructure, resulting in real bottom-line value for customers."

Customer benefits of the UCS product line include better cost-efficiencies as well as improved manageability, availability, and performance of the physical layer network infrastructure. "This technology enables us to remotely test, monitor and troubleshoot the network paths at all Okinawa sites from the Fort Buckner Technical Control Facility," said Michael Bennett, Lead Project Manager at the 58th Signal Battalion at the U.S Army's Fort Buckner. "This saves valuable travel time during testing and results in improved services for the more than 35,000 army personnel and customers that the 333d Signal Company services."

IntelliPath additionally announced Series A funding of $6.5 million co-financed by two prestigious venture capital firms - New York, N.Y.-based L Capital Partners and Blueprint Ventures, based in the San Francisco Bay area. The investment will be used for product development to extend the technology leadership of the UCS product line, as well as for strategic go-to-market initiatives to capitalize on the strong market opportunity for automated connectivity solutions. The company will sell directly to end customers as well as through established value-added resellers that specialized in enterprise connectivity."IntelliPath has a unique hardware and management software platform they can leverage to a broad customer set," said John Levy, Partner at L Capital Partners. "With this platform, and with the additional opportunity to develop new software applications, IntelliPath is in a very strong position to further penetrate its loyal base and expand into new markets." Levy joins the IntelliPath Board of Directors.

Also joining the Board is Blueprint Ventures Managing Director Jim Huston. "In our conversations with the user base, we were very impressed with the significant value that IntelliPath's technology brings to enterprise organizations and federal agencies," stated Huston. "Current customers love this product line and we are confident the IntelliPath executive team will provide the right focus to execute on this lucrative market opportunity."

"We see strong opportunities both from within our current user base as well as within prospective enterprise organizations and government entities who are looking for more efficient and effective ways of managing their physical layer network infrastructure," said Peter Dougherty, President and CEO of IntelliPath. "Our customers, partners and investors all see the value in simplifying physical layer connectivity to significantly improve uptime and reduce costs."

Brocade Communications Systems Inc.