Asia Pacific IT Decision Makers Look to Ethernet Fabrics to Realize Cloud Ambitions

SINGAPORE, Nov 14 (MARKET WIRE) --
A new research report from Frost & Sullivan shows that with rapidly
increasing usage of server virtualization, enterprises across Asia
Pacific are now looking at Ethernet fabric technology to help fully
realize the benefits of business agility, operational efficiencies and
lower costs. Commissioned by Brocade(R) (NASDAQ: BRCD), Think flat with
Ethernet Fabric - Importance of a Flat Network Architecture in Cloud
Implementation is based on findings from a survey of 328 IT
decision-makers from across the region.

The report revealed that two-thirds of the organizations surveyed have
adopted server virtualization, of which 46 percent are now running
production environments on virtual machines. More than a third of
respondents said their organizations planned to pilot an Ethernet fabric
architecture within the next six months and a further 25 percent said
they intended to do so within 12 months.

"What jumps out from this new report is just how fast Asia Pacific
enterprises are now moving towards cloud computing architecture," said
John McHugh, Chief Marketing Officer of Brocade. "They are certainly not
all there yet but road-maps are in place and there is a high level of
awareness about the issues they need to address. Creating a data center
networking architecture that is simple, secure, flat and virtualized is a
top priority for the region's IT decision makers."

With virtualization initiatives underway at most companies covered by the
Frost & Sullivan survey, 35 percent of respondents said their
organizations had already adopted some form of cloud computing with
private clouds more common than either the public or hybrid cloud
delivery models. While software-as-a-service adoption has been steadily
growing in Asia Pacific in the past decade, Frost & Sullivan's analysts
found adoption of cloud-enabled infrastructure-as-a-service and
platform-as-a-service seeing a huge spurt in the past 12 months.

"Rolling out cloud computing is complex, which is why it is recommended
that organizations address the data center network challenges head on
rather than waiting for bottlenecks to appear," said Andrew Milroy, Vice
President - ICT Practice for Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific.

"That means virtualizing the network layer; optimizing infrastructure
through flat architecture; introducing VM-aware automation to enable
elastic scaling; and pro-active management to maximize availability and
minimize opex. We therefore see Ethernet fabric becoming the critical
data center network technology due to its scalability, flatness and
efficiency."

Anticipating these needs in 2010, Brocade introduced its vision --
Brocade One -- of a cloud and data center architecture with Virtual
Cluster Switching (VCS) as the core technology for building large,
high-performance and flat Layer 2 fabrics to better support server
virtualization. Leveraging Brocade VCS fabric technology, Brocade VDX
Data Center Switches are now being deployed as the Ethernet fabric
foundation at leading-edge cloud data centers across the region.

For more information on the research paper, please go to:
http://www.brocade-apac.com/thinkflat

About Brocade Data Center Networking and Ethernet Fabric Solutions

Network architects are now looking for ways to build more powerful,
flatter networks that can support higher traffic loads and increased
east-to-west traffic in virtualized environments, all while avoiding
network congestion. Collapsing network layers also reduces complexity,
which lowers overhead costs and reduces risk. This type of design,
however, requires high-density, high-bandwidth network components that
deliver full wire-speed connectivity. With Ethernet fabric technology and
the industry's most powerful routers for enterprise data centers, Brocade
can help organizations build flatter, simpler networks today -- and at
measurably lower cost than the competition. For more information, please
visit www.brocade.com.

About Brocade
Brocade(R) (NASDAQ: BRCD) networking solutions help the
world's leading organizations transition smoothly to a world where
applications and information reside anywhere. (www.brocade.com)

Brocade, the B-wing symbol, DCX, Fabric OS, and SAN Health are registered
trademarks, and Brocade Assurance, Brocade NET Health, Brocade One,
CloudPlex, MLX, VCS, VDX, and When the Mission Is Critical, the Network
Is Brocade are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the
United States and/or in other countries. Other brands, products, or
service names mentioned are or may be trademarks or service marks of
their respective owners.

Copyright 2011 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BROCADE MEDIA CONTACT
Wendy Lang
Office +65 6317 2464
wlang@brocade.com

PR AGENCY CONTACT
Tony Tan
Siren-Communication
Office +65 6317 6709
tony@siren-communication.com

Copyright 2011, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

-0-