SAN JOSE, Calif., July 12, 1999 — Cisco Systems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. today announced that they have extended their joint development agreement for the Microsoft® Active Directory TM directory service in Windows® 2000 Server. This extension reaffirms the strategic partnership originally formed in May 1997, in which Cisco and Microsoft agreed to jointly enhance Active Directory to simplify the provisioning and management of network devices and services, and to offer advanced personalized networking services to customers.
In its collaboration with Microsoft, Cisco is developing Cisco Networking Services for Active Directory (CNS/AD), a family of advanced networking services built on the Microsoft Active Directory platform. CNS/AD, the world’s first truly directory-enabled networking solution, integrates the knowledge of network services, identity, security, policies and user profiles so applications can easily interact with Active Directory and access powerful Cisco IOS® software networking services. CNS/AD enables Cisco’s service provider and enterprise customers to offer personalized intelligent network services that utilize the rich set of network services provided by Cisco IOS software.
The Windows 2000 Server operating system delivers a comprehensive set of distributed infrastructure services including Active Directory, the multipurpose directory service that is scalable, built from the ground up using Internet-standard technologies, and fully integrated at the operating system level. Active Directory simplifies administration, makes it easier for users to find resources throughout an enterprise network, and provides a scalable infrastructure for directory-enabled applications and networking.
“Cisco’s partnership with Microsoft for Active Directory technologies will yield unique benefits to our customers in the form of scalable advanced networking services,”
said Kevin Kennedy, senior vice president of Cisco’s Service Provider Line of Business.
“CNS/AD builds on the scalable distributed architecture of Active Directory and couples it with the wealth of capabilities available through Cisco IOS software to deliver these services.”
“Customers are telling us that they want to deploy directory-enabled networking solutions throughout their company and need directory services that deliver scalability, performance and centralized administration,”
said Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the Personal and Business Systems Group at Microsoft.
“We are pleased that Cisco selected Active Directory as its strategic directory service technology and look forward to expanding our joint work.”
Cisco is delivering New World operations solutions through the Cisco Service Management System (CSM). CSM is an integrated suite of network and service management applications that addresses the four functional areas of service provider operations management: planning, provisioning, monitoring and billing. CNS/AD not only forms the basis of the CSM family, but serves as an integration point for an increasing number of third-party applications by providing a common Cisco schema and information model as well as secure publish/subscribe messaging for event services. Using these common foundation services, service providers can create and provision differentiated services for a diverse set of customer requirements.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq
“CSCO”
) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at http://www.cisco.com/.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
For more information, media only:
Troy Zaboukos, Waggener Edstrom for Microsoft, (503) 443-7000, [email protected]
Erin Bergamo, Cisco Systems, (408) 527-0600, [email protected]
For more information, investor relations only:
Mary Thurber, Cisco Systems, (408) 526-8893, [email protected]
