IDC: Blue Coat's #1

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Blue Coat(TM) Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI) today announced that IDC named Blue Coat the leading provider of Secure Content Management (SCM) Appliances worldwide. In IDC's recently published report, IDC recognizes Blue Coat as the overall leader in Secure Content Management Appliances with 33 percent market share, more than triple that of its nearest competitor.

According to the IDC report titled "Worldwide Secure Content Management Forecast Update and Competitive Vendor Shares, 2002-2007," the Secure Content Management Appliance market reached $108.5 million in 2002, representing a 101 percent growth over 2001. Blue Coat secured the highest revenue share from the sale of its industry-leading SG400, SG800 and SG6000 proxy security appliances. Over the next five years, IDC expects the market to grow exponentially based on a number of market factors, including new threats, privacy regulations, legal liability, new messaging applications, and policy enforced client security (PECS).

"This report affirms that more enterprises today trust Blue Coat for their appliance-based Web security needs," said Brian NeSmith, president and CEO of Blue Coat Systems. "Serving more than 5,000 enterprise customers, including 70 percent of the Dow Jones Industrial companies, Blue Coat Systems is quickly becoming the de-facto standard for securing today's mission-critical business applications."

"Blue Coat holds a dominant position in the Secure Content Management Appliance market, providing customers with high-performance, easy-to-install security appliances," said Brian Burke, research manager of IDC's Security Products program. "Blue Coat is a pioneer in leveraging its proxy expertise and custom operating platform to accelerate a number of security functions, including Web filtering, content security, and Web-based virus protection."

IDC, the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries, examines the Secure Content Management Appliance market for the period 2001-2007, with vendor revenue trends and market growth forecasts. The new report provides historical data, a five-year forecast, and a discussion of key trends for the Secure Content Management Appliance market. The study also provides profiles of leading vendors and identifies the characteristics that vendors will need to be successful in the future.

IDC

Blue Coat Systems Inc.