RACAL-DATACOM AND SYNC RESEARCH TO JOINTLY DEVELOP MANAGED MIGRATION TO
FRAME RELAY

SUNRISE, FL (April 24, 1995) -- Two leading suppliers of network
communications equipment today announced a joint-development agreement to
meet the growing demand for managed migration to frame relay services.
Local area and wide area networking vendor Racal-Datacom, Inc. has joined
with SNA and frame relay internetworking specialist Sync Research to
deliver complete support services and new frame relay access products for
mission critical networks not effectively served by existing frame relay
access devices (FRADs) and routers.

Most FRADs available today offer limited resiliency and little in the way
of network restoral or network management. They also provide few
capabilities for reducing recurring network expenses. While router
technology is an effective solution for LAN internetworking, it generally
offers inadequate support for legacy protocols. Consequently, large SNA
networks have not had reliable, managed migration to frame relay
services.

Sync and Racal are combining their complementary WAN technologies and
expertise in supporting IBM SNA customers and other organizations
operating high volume transaction processing networks. Sync brings its
expertise in applications for IBM SNA networks. It introduced the first
SNA over frame relay device with its FrameNode product, and has developed
internetworking offerings for IBM mainframe and branch office networks.
Racal brings to the agreement its transmission expertise with market
leading digital access and network management technologies, capabilities
in manufacturing, network design and support, worldwide services,
distribution and a broad customer base.

"SNA is still here and will not disappear anytime soon," said James K.
Norman, president of Racal-Datacom. "Network reliability has always been
important to our customers, most of which operate IBM SNA networks. To
brokerage firms, airlines, banks, insurance companies and other
information-intensive businesses, network downtime means major financial
losses. Our agreement with Sync and our broad support capabilities will
provide reliable, managed access to public frame relay services for all
segments of the market."

The research firm Vertical Systems Group estimates worldwide revenues for
frame relay equipment and services will grow from $1.6 billion in 1995 to
more than $3.4 billion in 1997.

"The opportunities are significant," said John Rademaker, president of Sync
Research. "With the tremendous growth in frame relay services, it's
imperative that SNA and mission critical customers derive the same
resiliency, performance and response time they currently require. Our
relationship is much more than just a reseller or technology agreement.
Our mutual heritage in wide area communications and Racal's particular
strengths in manufacturing, distribution and service enable us to
effectively deliver products that meet the special needs of IBM SNA
customers as well as the branch office connectivity needs of the general
marketplace."

Recognizing the need for deterministic response times, high resiliency and
reduced complexity, the two companies have recently worked together to
launch Racal's entry into the frame relay access market with the Excalibur
Access Node (EAN) 4000 based on Sync's ConversionNode and FrameNode access
devices. With the EAN 4000, Sync has designed software to support network
management for Racal's Excalibur Digital Access Products, ISX 5300 T1/CSUs
and BRI 2000 ISDN terminal adapters. Users gain increased network
management control and multiple access options not available from most
other vendors. The EAN 4000 is the first step in managed migration to
frame relay networks.

Announced in January 1995 and available now, the EAN 4000 incorporates
network management capabilities from both Sync and Racal, including
interfaces with IBM Host NetView, NetView AIX and HP OpenView. With the
EAN 4000, users gain the management and control advantages they've come to
expect from their private Racal/IBM SNA networks, while accessing and
delivering LAN/WAN applications over public frame relay services.

The agreement announced today expands activities to include joint
development of a new product family for domestic and international markets
and the tighter integration of existing products from both companies. The
companies will develop and integrate their core technologies into frame
relay RFC 1490 compliant products that will offer users increased
performance and resiliency, flexibility, and lower cost of ownership.

A next generation FRAD will offer scalability from small branch offices to
large central site locations. In addition to frame relay and digital
services access, the products will support all of the capabilities of the
EAN 4000, plus ISDN, X.25, V.34, compression and other functions.

Besides offering such advanced features as bandwidth on demand, bandwidth
augmentation, and resilient network restoral, these products will be easy
to configure and control remotely. Users will gain flexibility, reduced
maintenance costs, and need fewer expert personnel at remote sites. These
advantages significantly reduce the total cost of ownership when
implementing large frame relay networks.

The companies are designing products for low cost manufacturing at Racal's
facility in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Products resulting from the joint
development agreement will be released within the year.
The Racal/Sync relationship provides both companies with a competitive
advantage in the marketplace. By joining forces, they are able to offer
customer benefits including product features, system and network
management advantages, worldwide availability, ongoing services and
support. Extensive training programs have been launched for nationwide
support personnel.

In addition to direct sales and distributors, Racal also plans to reach end
users through its strategic relationships with telecommunications
carriers. Geoffrey Strother, MCI Alliance Marketing Manager said, "MCI and
Racal have established a very successful strategic alliance program to
provide end-to-end solutions for our business customers. The Racal/Sync
agreement to produce new frame relay products will support our commitment
to working together to meet the data communications and networking needs
of our customers."

With operations in more than 80 countries, Racal provides worldwide
distribution and support services including network optimization and
design, implementation and maintenance. In the U.S., the company has
dedicated 500 direct employees to provide network services. This
infrastructure, combined with Sync and Racal developed technology, offers
customers total managed migration to frame relay. - END 

Company Backgrounds

Racal-Datacom provides network solutions for the delivery and management of
information between headquarters and remote locations. The company's broad
product line includes local area, wide area and metropolitan area
networking systems that assist organizations in managing their migration
from host-based to client/server-based communications. All Racal products
are managed by a single, open and integrated network management platform
and backed by a full range of services including network design, operation
and integration, worldwide maintenance and support.

Sync Research develops and markets wide area internetworking products for
large IBM branch network customers worldwide who deploy SNA networks along
with internetworked LANs. Sync's ConversionNode (named 1991 "Hot Product
of the Year" by Data Communications magazine) and FrameNode (named 1994
"Hot Product of the Year" by Data Communications magazine) support users
in banking and financial services, insurance, transportation,
manufacturing, federal and state government, telecommunications, and other
industries. Sync sells direct through its own field organization and
through a variety of partners who manufacture hub and router products or
sell wide area network services.

Racal-Datacomm, 1601 N. Harrison Parkway, Sunrise, FL 33323-2899
Mailing Address: PO Box 40744, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33340-7044
305-846-1601;  Fax: 305-846-3935

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