Fortinet Signs Japanese Distributors

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Fortinet, the premier provider of network protection systems and the only provider of ASIC-powered, network-based antivirus solutions, today announced that it has entered into strategic distribution agreements with CTCSP Corporation, Forval Creative, Inc. (Distributed by IT Trust, Inc.), and Data Control Ltd., three of Japan's leading distributors of network security products and services. The agreements mark Fortinet's entry into the Japanese network protection market, which is projected to top $5.6 billion in 2004. Under the agreements, CTCSP, Forval Creative, and Data Control will sell and support Fortinet's FortiGate(TM) line of Network Protection Gateways through a Japan-wide network of resellers. "The Japanese market is key to our strategy for the Asia-Pacific region and so we have been very focused on ensuring that we form relationships with the best partners," said Ken Xie, president and CEO of Fortinet. "By establishing relationships with three leading players we have positioned ourselves for great success in Japan. These partners will enable us to bring our network protection solutions quickly and efficiently to the full range of customers -- small and medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and service providers -- across the Japanese market. We are delighted to be working with such capable and respected distributors." CTCSP, a subsidiary of ITOCHU TECHNO-SCIENCE Corporation (CTC), one of Japan's largest resellers and integrators of technology, will distribute FortiGate Network Protection Gateways as part of CTCSP's Network Security Solution, which was launched at the Networld+Interop 2002 tradeshow in July in Tokyo. "Our customers have relied on us for many years to provide them with the most effective and reliable networking solutions available," said Takayoshi Iwashima, president of CTCSP Corporation. "As part of our Information High Availability and Security Initiative, our Network Security Solution offerings provide our customers with comprehensive security solutions using the best products available on the market. After extensive evaluation, we selected the FortiGate products because they represent what our customers need: Extremely high performance and high reliability at a very attractive price. We expect that both existing and new customers will benefit from the Fortinet offerings." Fortinet Inc.