Interop® Las Vegas Special Interest Days to Focus on Hottest Industry Topics, Sponsored by Market Leaders

CMP Media today announced the Special Interest Days at Interop Las Vegas, featuring an educational program that will explore key IT issues such as VoIP & Collaboration, Wireless & Mobility, Infrastructure & Services, Data Center, Application Performance and Security. Interop Las Vegas 2006 will be held April 30 - May 5 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. For a complete schedule of all educational sessions, keynote addresses and participating exhibitors, visit www.interop.com.

Each program will feature a day-long agenda with specially-focused content in each area, and will be led by recognized industry experts. Chairpersons for each focus area include Joel Snyder, Senior Partner, Opus One Inc. (SSL VPN Day); Peter Sevcik, President, NetForecast Inc.; Mike Pennacchi, Founding Network Analyst, Network Protocol Specialists LLC (Application Performance Day); and Howard Goldstein, President, Howard Goldstein Associates, Inc. (Storage Networking Day).

"These unique Special Interest Days at Interop are unlike any other program in the industry," said Lenny Heymann, Interop General Manager. "Nowhere else will IT professionals find the answers to today's pressing IT issues combined with a more qualified group of industry figures and leading solution providers."

Each of the Interop Special Interest Days will address pressing issues facing IT and business professionals at every level, from programmers and network administrators to chief technology officers. Sponsors for each Special Interest Day are as follows:

  -- SSL VPN Day: AEP, Array Networks, Aventail, Juniper Networks
  -- Application Performance Day: ClearSight Networks, Fluke Networks,
     Gigamon Systems, Juniper Networks, Riverbed, Silver Peak Systems
  -- Storage Networking Day: Kaidea Innovation

Interop Las Vegas 2006 will feature six technology themes that will address current and emerging technologies, including VoIP & Collaboration, Wireless & Mobility, Infrastructure & Services, Data Center, Application Performance and Security. Sponsors for each of these themes include:

  -- Security Theme: CipherTrust, Internet Security Systems, Mirage Networks
  -- Wireless & Mobility Theme: Bluesocket
  -- VoIP & Collaboration Theme: LifeSize Communications, Nortel Networks
  -- Infrastructure & Services Theme: American Power Conversion (APC), F5
     Networks, SYSTIMAX Solutions, WideBand Corporation
  -- Data Center Theme: American Power Conversion (APC), Avocent, EMC
     Corporation, IBM, Manage Operations
  -- Application Performance Theme: Packeteer

Another key program at Interop Las Vegas 2006 is CIO Bootcamp, an intensive two-day program to help aspiring CIOs, CTOs, and senior IT executives understand the issues involved in landing and excelling in the role of the CIO. Led by Chairperson Thornton May, Futurist and Dean, The IT Leadership Academy, along with the "CIO Posse," these highly respected experts will present real-world scenarios and share experiences with participants who will learn skills critical to their jobs. CIO Bootcamp at Interop Las Vegas 2006 is sponsored by ConSentry Networks and ProCurve by HP.

For 20 years, Interop has held a unique place in the IP infrastructure markets, and is responsible for fostering the innovation that has fueled the revolution and evolution in IP networking. With network convergence now taking center stage as the key enabler of the latest technology innovations, Interop will continue to show how all of the pieces fit together to help IT organizations overcome their business challenges. Additional information on Interop Las Vegas, including registration information, is available online at www.interop.com.

Interop Las Vegas 2006 will feature one of the most holistic content and education programs available to the IT market today, and will include the same program features that have made Interop a success for the past two decades. Through in-depth educational programs, workshops, real-world demonstrations and live technology implementations in its unique InteropNet and InteropLabs programs, Interop provides the forum for the most powerful innovations and solutions the industry has to offer.

About Interop®

Interop®, now part of the CMP Media family of global brands, has led the revolution and evolution in IP networking for the past twenty years, and is dedicated to promoting and demonstrating the interoperability of the converged network, applications and devices to seamlessly exchange and use information to address the full range of business challenges facing IT organizations today and tomorrow. As the leading destination for technology buyers and sellers, Interop has fostered the growth and evolution of the IT industry for the past two decades, and remains the most anticipated and only comprehensive IT event. Through in-depth educational programs, workshops, real-world demonstrations and live technology implementations in its unique InteropNet and InteropLabs programs, Interop® provides the forum for the most powerful innovations and solutions the industry has to offer. Interop® Las Vegas will take place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, April 30-May 5, 2006, and Interop® New York 2006 will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, September 18-22, 2006. For more information about these events, visit www.interop.com.

About CMP Media (www.cmp.com)

CMP Media is a marketing solutions company serving the technology, healthcare and lifestyles industries. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP Media has earned the confidence of more professionals and enthusiasts in these fields than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in each of these industries in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Media is a subsidiary of United Business Media ( http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/ ), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

SOURCE: CMP Media

CONTACT: Ben Stricker, PR Manager of CMP Media, +1-415-905-2464, or
bstricker@cmp.com

Web site: http://www.cmp.com/