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X-Series Selected as the Most Cost-Effective, Scalable and Change-Ready Security Platform

BOXBOROUGH, Mass. – June 15, 2009 – Crossbeam Systems, Inc., the leading provider of next-generation security platforms for high-performance networks, today announced that Baylor University has deployed Crossbeam’s X-Series Next Generation Security Platform to secure campus-wide communications for its 14,000-plus student body as well as administrators, faculty and staff.

To protect users from security threats, Baylor University faced the prospect of managing an ever-growing number of security appliances on its network. The complexity of managing this appliance sprawl, along with the expected increase in use of high-bandwidth multimedia services at Baylor, propelled the IT department to reassess its network security needs before the 2008-2009 academic year began.

“We anticipated a spike in network demand with start of the school year and wanted to find a more cost-effective and scalable way to manage our security infrastructure,” said Scott Day, manager of network services at Baylor University. “Crossbeam enabled us to consolidate our entire firewall and content gateway infrastructure onto a single X-Series chassis, while providing the flexibility to address future network demands.”

With Crossbeam, Baylor continues to use its security applications of choice—Check Point firewall and Websense Web filtering—while building a more change-ready security infrastructure. In addition to consolidating both security applications on Crossbeam, installing the X-Series eliminated the need to purchase more than 10 security appliances and related network infrastructure that Baylor would have needed to accommodate its security and bandwidth requirements.

“We have fewer licenses and appliances to manage, and can scale as demand requires; it’s as simple as adding a blade to the Crossbeam chassis. This alleviates a lot of management headaches,” added Day.

Crossbeam enables customers to consolidate their security infrastructure on a carrier-class, scalable security platform that virtualizes the delivery of best-of-breed security applications. The X-Series is the highest-performing security platform, tested to wire-line rates of 40 gigabytes per second (Gbps) with ultra-low latency, providing unprecedented levels of scale and flexibility to support the security requirements of large enterprise and carrier networks. Customers use the X-Series to protect their internal networks and deliver a new generation of virtualized services such as firewall, VPN and intrusion prevention, while reducing the cost and complexity of security services deployment within their data centers.

“Trends like social networking, outsourced services and the explosion of multimedia content are placing enormous demands on networking infrastructure, especially at higher education campuses,” said Jim Freeze, chief marketing officer at Crossbeam. “Crossbeam’s goal is to ensure that customers like Baylor meet every new security demand with ease, regardless of the type or volume of traffic that is traversing the network, and with the security applications that make the most sense for their infrastructure.”

About Crossbeam
Crossbeam Systems, Inc. transforms the way enterprises, service providers and government agencies architect and deliver security services. The basis of Crossbeam’s solution is its Next Generation Security Platform, a highly scalable software and hardware platform that facilitates the consolidation, virtualization and simplification of security services delivery, while preserving the customers’ choice of best-of-breed security applications. Crossbeam offers the only security platform that delivers unparalleled network performance, scalability, adaptability and resiliency. Customers choose Crossbeam to intelligently manage risk, accelerate and maintain compliance, and protect their businesses from evolving threats. Crossbeam is headquartered in Boxborough, Mass., and has offices in Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. More information is available at: www.crossbeam.com.