COSTA MESA, Calif., March 8, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX), the most trusted name in storage networking connectivity, today announced it has attained Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program with a competency in OEM Hardware Solutions, recognizing Emulex's expertise and total impact in the technology marketplace. As a Gold Certified partner, Emulex has demonstrated expertise with Microsoft technologies and proven ability to meet customers' needs. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners receive a rich set of benefits, including access, training and support, giving them a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
The world's largest storage and server OEMs rely on Emulex's highly flexible common architecture to establish a robust foundation for cost-effectively integrating a wide array of storage protocols, standards and speeds. Emulex offers the combination of products, technologies and solution-level expertise needed to deliver this level of flexibility to its customers. This unique array of capabilities has propelled Emulex to a position of leadership in the storage networking market, from which it drives the migration of storage technologies to next-generation solutions.
"Achieving Gold Certified status in the Microsoft Partner Program allows us to clearly promote our expertise and relationship with Microsoft to our customers," said Mike Smith, executive vice president of worldwide marketing at Emulex. "The benefits provided through our Gold Certified status will also enable Emulex to continue enhancing the SAN connectivity offerings that we provide to our mutual customers."
"Customers are looking for partner companies that can bridge the gap between their business demands and technology capabilities. They need to trust in someone that can act as an expert adviser for their long-term strategic technology plans. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners, which have certified expertise and direct training and support from Microsoft, can build a positive customer experience with our technologies," said Allison Watson, vice president of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. "Today, Microsoft recognizes Emulex as a new Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for demonstrating its expertise in providing customer satisfaction with Microsoft products and technology."
As one of the requirements for attaining Gold Certified Status, Emulex had to declare a Microsoft Competency. Microsoft Competencies are designed to help differentiate a partner's capabilities with specific Microsoft technologies to customers looking for a particular type of solution. Each competency has a unique set of requirements and benefits, formulated to accurately represent the specific skills and services that partners bring to the technology industry.
The OEM Hardware Solutions Competency is intended for partners that build and deliver desktop or server hardware systems and those that design and manufacture hardware devices used as computer parts, peripherals or accessories. Partners that attain the OEM Hardware Solutions Competency are recognized for their expertise in delivering high-quality hardware solutions and are provided with information and tools needed to expand their market opportunities and maintain a competitive advantage in the industry.
"Partners that acquire the OEM Hardware Solutions Competency have demonstrated expertise and have a track record of building high quality hardware solutions that are designed and configured with Microsoft technologies according to customer needs and supported to ensure customer satisfaction," said Kurt Kolb, Vice President of Worldwide System Builder Channel and License Compliance at Microsoft. "These partners are able to closely engage with Microsoft and have access to specialized resources to help them meet and even surpass their customer expectations."
The Microsoft Partner Program was launched in December 2003 and represents Microsoft's ongoing commitment to the success of partners worldwide. The program offers a single, integrated partnering framework that recognizes partner expertise, rewards the total impact that partners have in the technology marketplace, and delivers more value to help partners' businesses be successful.
Emulex Fibre Channel HBAs -- Generations Ahead
Emulex LightPulse HBAs leverage seven generations of advanced, field-proven technology, providing customers with the highest quality SAN connectivity solutions that the world's leading enterprises have come to rely upon. With a unique firmware upgradeable architecture, common driver model and centralized management tools for simplified installation and deployment, Emulex HBAs are simply "Generations Ahead" of competing solutions. The Emulex suite of Fibre Channel HBAs offers the following industry-leading features and benefits:
-- Superior Quality and Reliability -- Field-proven,
single-chip design with a combination of parity and other
advanced error checking methods to validate the integrity
of data blocks.
-- Most Efficient Installation and Management -- Unique tools
designed to automate installation and provide local and remote
HBA configuration and management. The Emulex architecture
allows complete independence of device drivers from HBA hardware
and firmware, which translates into time- and cost-savings by
eliminating the need to reboot during most configuration changes
and providing compatibility across HBA generations.
-- Maximum SAN Performance -- Experience superior full-duplex data
throughput and I/O processing, ideal for real-world application
environments. Dynamic Frame Multiplexing is another exclusive
Emulex feature designed to consistently provide superior
performance in mixed workload environments, such as disk and
tape back-up.
-- Fastest Diagnosis and Recovery -- Ensures fast and efficient SAN
troubleshooting with comprehensive diagnostics, detailed event
logging and tracing.
-- Broadest Enterprise Deployments -- With the largest installed
base of HBAs, Emulex SAN connectivity solutions are trusted by
the world's largest, mission-critical enterprises.
About Emulex
Emulex Corporation is the most trusted name in storage networking connectivity, offering a broad range of advanced storage networking infrastructure solutions spanning host bus adapters, embedded storage switches, I/O controllers and SAN Storage Switches. Emulex ranked number 16 in the Deloitte 2004 Technology Fast 50 and most recently received recognition as one of Forbes 200 Best Small Companies. Corporate headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, California. News releases and other information about Emulex Corporation are available at http://www.emulex.com.
EMULEX -- We network storage
Emulex Safe Harbor Statement
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. The company wishes to caution readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include the rapidly changing nature of technology, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements by competitors; fluctuation in the growth of Fibre Channel and IP markets; changes in economic conditions or changes in end-user demand for technology solutions; fluctuations or delays in customer orders; the highly competitive nature of the markets for Emulex's products; Emulex's ability to gain market acceptance for its products; the company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; the company's reliance on third-party suppliers. These and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are also discussed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
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