SHORT TAKES

KNOWLING ELECTED TO HP’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Palo Alto, CA — Hewlett-Packard Company announced that Robert E. Knowling, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Covad, has been elected to the company’s board of directors. Covad is a leading national broadband services provider of high-speed Internet and network access using DSL. Knowling, 44, is responsible for all aspects of Covad’s national roll-out as well as day-to-day operations. Previously, he was executive vice president of US West, and, before that, he was vice president of Network Operations for Ameritech. Knowling serves on the boards of directors for several business and civic organizations. “Robert Knowling understands what the New HP is all about and will be a superb addition to our board,” said Carly Fiorina, HP president and chief executive officer. “At Covad, he’s setting land speed records for bringing customers to the Internet. His track record shows that he shares our focus on satisfying customers. He has lived ‘reinvention’ and knows what it takes to propel a company to aspirational levels. We welcome that energy and expertise as we continue to forge the New HP.”

Covad is a leading national broadband services provider of high-speed Internet and network access utilizing Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. It offers DSL, IP and dial-up services through Internet Service Providers, telecommunications carriers, enterprises, affinity groups, PC OEMs and ASPs to small and medium-sized businesses and homeusers. Hewlett-Packard Company is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that’s always on. Visit http://www.hp.com or http://www.covad.com for more information.

LEO DAIUTO ELECTED BY UNISYS BOARD

Blue Bell, PA — The Board of Directors of Unisys Corporation has elected Leo C. Daiuto a corporate officer in the position of vice president & general manager, product development and technology. Daiuto directs a division of 3,300 employees worldwide who work in product engineering, development and advanced technology. He will continue to report to Unisys Systems and Technology president George R. Gazerwitz. “Leo has been at the heart of the tremendous effort to develop our breakthrough server architecture, Cellular Multi Processing (CMP), which will be the foundation of our future ClearPath enterprise servers, and which is the foundation of our powerful line of ES7000 enterprise servers introduced this year,” said Unisys Chairman and CEO Lawrence A. Weinbach. “This technology is critical to our future success, and Leo has driven its development from whiteboard to market reality.”

Earlier, Daiuto led the development of the innovative Heterogeneous Multi Processing (HMP) technology, as well as its incorporation into the ClearPath line of enterprise servers introduced in 1995. This development allowed Unisys to combine its mainframes into one major product line that was enthusiastically received by clients and industry analysts. A 32-year Unisys veteran, Daiuto holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Dayton and a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. Daiuto serves as the Unisys Executive of Interest for Penn State University and was elected to the Nihon Unisys Limited (NUL) Board of Directors in 1996.

FORMER ORACLE PRESIDENT JOINS START-UP’S BOARD

San Diego, CA — Ray Lane, the former president of Oracle, has joined the board of directors of Sheer Networks. Lane, who last month resigned from the database software giant, will help Sheer Networks’ chief executive build his management team and offer advice on working with the company’s larger customers, Lane said in an interview. Sheer Networks’ software helps manage and control the information that flows through the networks operated by telephone companies and major Internet service providers. Lane will serve on the board along with the company’s officers and a partner from Rein Capital, which provided the first round of financing.

“Rein approached me about being a director five or six months ago,” Lane said. “(Sheer Networks) matched my interest in the telecommunications field. If you look at the boards that I sit on, I didn’t have a way to participate in this area and keep current on the technology.” In addition to Sheer Networks, Lane sits on the boards of computer software maker Marimba, Carnegie-Mellon University and Special Olympics International.

MALAVALLI RE-ELECTED TO BOARD OF FCIA

San Jose, CA — Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (BROCADE), a leading supplier of Fibre Channel fabric solutions for Storage Area Networking, announced that Kumar Malavalli, BROCADE co-founder and vice president of technology, has been re-elected to the Board of Directors of the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA). The FCIA is a not-for-profit organization committed to advancing the market for Fibre Channel technology and products through education and support for standards conformance testing and interoperability. Malavalli, a seminal figure in Fibre Channel and storage area networking technologies, joins the FCIA board for a second term, which will run from 2000-2001. Malavalli has also served as a Fibre Channel expert and advocate through his involvement in other prominent industry organizations. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA), and chairs the National Committee for Information Technology Standards (NCITS) T11 Technical Committee, the governing body for all Fibre Channel related standards.

“BROCADE is pleased to continue its contribution to the FCIA and its ongoing efforts to educate the market on storage area networking and Fibre Channel solutions,” said Malavalli. “I am honored to hold a seat on the FCIA Board of Directors for the second consecutive year. The FCIA has been integral to the widespread adoption of Fibre Channel technology and products and contributed to the continued progress towards end to end SAN interoperability.” A BROCADE co-founder and Fibre Channel patent-holder, Malavalli has over 20 years of technical industry experience. Prior to BROCADE, he was Hewlett-Packard’s Senior Fibre Channel Architect. He was a key contributor to the industry team that originated the Fibre Channel architecture, and has been instrumental in developing and promoting storage area networking technology standards over the last 10 years. Visit http://www.fibrechannel.org for more information.

IDC PROMOTES PAUL MASON TO GROUP VICE PRESIDENT

Framingham, MASS. — Recognizing his forward-looking analysis, IDC recently promoted R. Paul Mason, Ph.D, to group vice president of System Infrastructure Software. Mason has been with IDC since 1993 and has managed the System Infrastructure Software group for two years. “Our System Infrastructure Software group has been incredibly successful, and Paul’s thought leadership has contributed in a major way to that success,” said Tony Picardi, senior vice president of Global Software at IDC. “His dedication, cooperative attitude, stature in the industry, and sense of humor make him a bright IDC star.” Mason has made a name for himself in the industry by being the first to identify major software trends. He was the first to describe deliveryware and business service management, and today they are becoming recognized terms for segments of the enterprise system management market. Additionally, he recently defined the concept of management service providers, which are similar to application service providers.

Mason’s contributions extend beyond software research to communications and hardware research. He has provided valuable input into IDC’s network and storage management research. He is also highly valued at IDC for his consulting and speaking engagements. He has spoken at IDC’s Directions conference, at customer conferences all over the world, and – most recently – at IDC’s AppSourcing Forum. Mason earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Bath, a graduate diploma from Imperial College in London, and a master of arts and science degree from the University of Toronto. He holds a doctorate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Before joining IDC, he directed the Computer Services department at a Boston economics consulting firm.

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