Network Computing's Third Annual Well-Connected Awards Honor the Networking Industry's Best Products3Com's AccessBuilder 5000 Named Best Hardware Product of the Year - Entrust Technology's Entrust is Best Software ProductPRNewswire The editors of CMP's Network Computing last night honored the top networking products at the third annual Well- Connected Awards. The gala celebration, scheduled to coincide with the NetWorld+Interop trade show, recognized the best, lab-tested products in 50 categories. The night's top winners included 3Com's AccessBuilder 5000 as Best Hardware Product of the Year and Entrust Technology's Entrust as Best Software Product of the Year. 3Com, Novell and Netscape were the most cited companies, with three awards each. "The Well-Connected Awards are significantly different from other IS or networking publications' awards," said Patricia Schnaidt, Editorial Director/Associate Publisher of Network Computing. "Our awards aren't based on a reader popularity contest or editors' secondhand knowledge about the product marketplace. Our editors have tested these products themselves in our Real-World Labs. These are the products they would design into production networks of their own. That's what makes the Well-Connected Awards one of the industry's most coveted and meaningful editor's choice award." Now in its third year, the Well-Connected Awards are chosen by a team of Network Computing editors who have put the products through the rigors of lab-based testing. These experts, who have years of experience with information systems and networking solutions, test products in Network Computing's Real World Labs™ where they can compare features and functionality across an enterprise-wide environment. There were more than 150 finalists this year, from which the top products in 50 categories were chosen. Reflecting the importance of the Internet and intranets within the enterprise, this year's Well-Connected Awards featured five additional Internet/intranet categories. Among the winners were Novell for its GroupWise 5, IntranetWare and Novell Directory Services; Netscape for its Communicator 4.0, SuiteSpot 2.0 and LiveWire; and 3Com with its AccessBuilder 5000 Enterprise LAN/WAN Switch, SuperStack II Hub 100TX and SuperStack II Desktop Switch. A complete list of winning companies is attached. Network Computing delivers lab-based, real-world enterprise-wide solutions to 200,000* Network Technology Drivers twice monthly. Its Web site is located at http://www.networkcomputing.com/. For the third consecutive year, the publication was the best read networking title, according to Simmons and IntelliQuest**. CMP Media Inc. provides publishing, marketing and information services to the broad high-technology spectrum -- the builders, sellers and users of technology -- through print and electronic media. All of CMP's publications and online products can be accessed through the company's TechWeb® site on the Web at http://www.techweb.com/. Along with Network Computing, print titles include EE Times, Computer Reseller News, HomePC, NetGuide Magazine and WINDOWS MAGAZINE. *Circulation Data 11/96. **Ranking based on highest average coverage among audience. Best read compared with DataCommunications, Internetwork (LAN Computing in v1.0), LAN Magazine, LAN Times, CommunicationsWeek and Network World. (Simmons CompPro II, III, IV and IntelliQuest v1.0, v2.0, v3.0). -0- 05/07/97 SOURCE: CMP Media Inc. CONTACT: Steve Rubel, 516-562-7434 or srubel@cmp.com, or Yvonne Diamond |