Enterasys Positioned in the Visionaries Quandrant in Leading Analyst Firm's Campus LAN Magic Quadrant

Evaluation Based on Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision


ANDOVER, MA--(Marketwire - March 31, 2008) - Enterasys Networks Inc., the Secure Networks Company™, today announced that the company was positioned in the visionaries quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Campus LAN (Global), 2008 report (Gartner ID Number G00153760).

"Major LAN purchases and upgrades should not take place without a full competitive review," the report stated. "A significant percentage of the market should be looking for more cost-effective, easier-to-manage solutions to their infrastructure."

Published 26 March 2008, the Gartner report stated, "During the past two years, four key, largely product-related attributes have emerged that drive nearly every LAN upgrade:

--  Support for an open, standards-based platform for convergence
    applications
--  Ability to embed security in the LAN infrastructure
--  Support for increasingly large, scalable data centers
--  Ability to drive innovation to support a long-lived, cost-effective
    infrastructure"
    

"Enterasys is pleased by our positioning in Gartner's Magic Quadrant and I believe that this is confirmation that our technology, business execution, pricing and support are company strengths," said Mike Fabiaschi, Enterasys President and CEO. "Capital savings can result from competing the LAN business between multiple vendors as no operational advantage to a single vendor approach has been independently documented."

Enterasys believes its solutions have these four attributes mentioned in the Gartner report for delivering enterprise-class solutions for LAN infrastructure to the global market; and has demonstrated an ability to increase features in its offering, to provide a unique and differentiated approach to the market. Enterasys has innovated in the key areas of Campus LAN technologies such as convergence, security, data center and operational efficiency.

Gartner evaluated a vendor's ability to execute using the criteria of products, overall viability, sales execution/pricing, market responsiveness and track record, marketing execution, customer experience and other criteria. A vendor's completeness of vision was evaluated based on market understanding, marketing strategy, product strategy, business model, innovation and other criteria.

Differentiators: Competitive Pricing and Very Strong Support

Over the last 25 years, Enterasys LAN solutions have been selected time and again to build the biggest and best networks by institutions across the globe, from a wide range of vertical industries, by offering unmatched service and support. The company's competitive pricing structure fits well into any industry's IT budget. The company continues to grow revenues profitably and add new customers.

Enterasys provides very strong services capabilities as a fundamental differentiator. Enterasys does not outsource or offshore support. The skilled technicians that staff the Enterasys Global Technical Assistance Center (GTAC) have an average tenure of 10+ years and a cultural commitment to help quickly solve a problem, regardless of the vendor involved, without pointing fingers. Enterasys encourages direct access to its developers and executives, and in a 2007 customer satisfaction survey, 95% of Enterasys customers said they would purchase from Enterasys again.

Unmatched security integration

Enterasys has attractive offerings for secure, converged networks. The ability to embed security in the LAN infrastructure is one of four key product-related attributes that drive nearly every LAN upgrade. Enterasys offers tightly integrated security capabilities -- including strong support for all IP telephony offerings. As networks continue to be a target for security intrusions, Enterasys sees embedded security expanding to provide more complete protection that includes post admission control technologies, threat containment, and content security. Enterasys believes Network Access Control (NAC) will become a standard feature of switches -- something Enterasys Matrix® and SecureStack™ switches already offer today.

About the Magic Quadrant

The Gartner Magic Quadrant is copyrighted March 2008 by Gartner, Inc., and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Enterasys

Enterasys is owned by a private investor group led by The Gores Group, LLC and Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC. Enterasys delivers Secure Networks™ that ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of IT services and the business users that rely on them -- without sacrificing performance. Thousands of enterprises, government agencies and educational institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide rely on our convergence, compliance and connectivity solutions to deliver business-oriented, policy-based visibility and control of individual user and application priority and security. The company's culture is centered on the principle, "There is nothing more important than our customers." Enterasys' standards-based, open-architecture approach to network security offers a long technology lifecycle and significant operational and business benefits, while reducing total cost of ownership. Information about Enterasys' award winning, policy-enabled switches, routers, wireless products, security software and services is available at www.enterasys.com.

About The Gores Group

Founded in 1987, The Gores Group, LLC is a private equity firm focused on acquiring controlling interests in mature and growing businesses which can benefit from the firm's operating experience and flexible capital base. The firm combines the operational expertise and detailed due diligence capabilities of a strategic buyer with the seasoned M&A team of a traditional financial buyer. The Gores Group, LLC has become a leading investor having demonstrated over time a reliable track record of creating substantial value in its portfolio companies alongside management. The firm's current private equity fund has committed equity capital of $1.3 billion. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, The Gores Group, LLC maintains offices in Boulder, Colorado and London. For more information, please visit www.gores.com.

About Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC

Tennenbaum Capital Partners is a Santa Monica, California-based private investment firm managing over $7.5 billion in committed capital in private funds. The firm's investment strategy is grounded in a long-term, value approach, and it assists -- both financially and operationally -- transitional middle market companies in such industries as technology, healthcare, energy, aerospace, business services, retail and general manufacturing. Tennenbaum's core strengths include in-depth knowledge of equity and debt financing vehicles in the public and private markets, as well as a thorough understanding of special situations. For more information, please visit www.tennenbaumcapital.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Trent Waterhouse Enterasys Networks +1 978 684 1506 trent@enterasys.com Jackie Abramian BridgeView Marketing +1 617 584 2580 jackie@bridgeviewmarketing.com