CII RESEARCH REVEALS THE COMPANIES THAT WILL LIKELY BE FIRST TO ADOPT ATM
TECHNOLOGY

MANUFACTURING AND GOVERNMENT ARE LEADING SECTORS FOR BACKBONE ATM;
MANUFACTURING AND EDUCATION LEAD IN DESKTOP ATM 25

LA JOLLA, Calif., May 15, 1996 - Recent research from Computer Intelligence
InfoCorp (CII), the leading fact-based market information firm for the
computer and communications industry, has determined which companies are
likely to be early adopters of backbone ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
and desktop ATM 25 technology, and what factors distinguish these early
adopters from the rest.

Backbone ATM refers to high-speed data highways linking together an
enterprise network, while desktop ATM 25 denotes switches conforming to
the ATM 25 specification for 25.6 Mbps protocols. Desktop ATM's advantages
include low cost and efficient implementation. Generally, desktop ATM
functions as part of an overall ATM-switched network.

"ATM's scalability and the efficiency of a single topology that handles
both local and wide area network transport needs make ATM technology
particularly appealing to corporate network managers," noted Stan Schatt,
CII's LAN Research Director. "Many of the companies CII surveyed have
already budgeted funds to begin converting their network infrastructures
to ATM."

BACKBONE ATM

CII's research determined the key factors driving organizations to early
adoption of backbone ATM, and has compiled the top 500 companies
exhibiting these characteristics into a ranked list, called the CII
Backbone ATM 500.

The factors differentiating companies with an immediate need for backbone
ATM include:

* Large, overtaxed Ethernet backbones,
* Heavy LAN-to-WAN traffic,
* T-3 leased lines that currently carry data and video, not just
  voice traffic,
* High-bandwidth-demanding LAN applications, such as multimedia or
  CAD/CAM, running on LANs with 500 or more Ethernet nodes,
* Overall, a long-term goal to implement a seamless LAN-to-WAN ATM
  network.

The table below breaks out the CII Backbone ATM 500 according to industry
sector. As might be expected, manufacturing is the leading category, with
30 percent of the top candidates for backbone ATM: many of these sites
send massive amounts of bit-mapped images over very large Ethernet
networks. In addition to imaging applications, these manufacturing
environments require multimedia and video capabilities.

The government sector represented 24 percent of all top sites for backbone
ATM. This sector's need for backbone ATM derives from its many sites with
extensive remote communications, transmitting extremely large amounts of
data via wide-area-network links.

CII BACKBONE ATM 500 BY INDUSTRY

 Sector              % of top 500

 Manufacturing           30%
 Government              24%
 Services                16%
 Education               12%
 F/I/R/E                 5%
 Medical                 5%
 Other                   8%

 Source: CII 1996

CII analyzed the geographical distribution of the CII Backbone ATM 500, and
found that these companies are located, for the most part, in five leading
metropolitan areas: Washington, DC; the San Francisco Bay area; Los
Angeles; Denver; and New York City.

Washington, DC ranks first, probably because of the large number of
data-traffic-intensive government sites located in the area. The high
ranking of the San Francisco Bay area is likely attributable to the many
computer manufacturing sites with large data networks. Los Angeles has a
high density of light electronics companies, while Denver's presence
reflects the many computer manufacturing companies that have moved into
the area over the past few years. New York City's inclusion points to its
concentration of financial institutions with large data networks.

DESKTOP ATM

CII also determined the key factors that identify organizations likely to
be early adopters of desktop ATM, and has compiled the CII Desktop 25 ATM
700 list.

Some of the factors differentiating these companies are:

* Presence of desktop traffic-intensive applications, such as CAD/CAM/CAE
applications, earth science, imaging, multimedia, or videoconferencing
technology,

* Preponderance of PCs running relatively fast Intel-based processors (486
and above),

* Heavy use of high-performance workstations on LANs.

Organizations in manufacturing and education sectors will likely adopt ATM
25 first, as the table below indicates. The multimedia, imaging, and
CAD/CAM/CAE requirements found in these environments make them
particularly suited to exploit the advantages of desktop ATM.

CII DESKTOP 25 ATM 700 BY INDUSTRY

 Sector            % of top 500

 Manufacturing         30%
 Education             24%
 Services              15%
 Government            13%
 Medical                7%
 F/I/R/E                3%
 Wholesale              2%
 Other                  6%

 Source: CII 1996

Computer Intelligence InfoCorp, a Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, is the
leading source of fact-based information for the computer and
communications industries. CII's extensive research capabilities provide a
wide variety of products and services that help computer and
communications companies sell and market more effectively. All of the
company's products and services are based on proprietary information
databases built and maintained by CII specialists. Headquartered in La
Jolla, Computer Intelligence InfoCorp has offices in Cambridge, Mass.;
Farmington, Conn.; Mountain View, Calif.; and Europe. Samples of CII's
extensive market data and research results, timely commentary from
industry authorities and previews of upcoming technology events are
available at the company's site on the World Wide Web
(http://www.compint.com).
 
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