Alibaba.com Selects Blue Coat to Secure and Accelerate One of the World’s Largest Online Marketplace Sites
ProxySG Appliances Support Over 24 Million Users from over 200 Countries and Reduce Load on Servers
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 7, 2008 - Blue Coat Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: BCSI), the leader in WAN Application Delivery and Secure Web Gateway, today announced that Alibaba.com, a company that operates one of the world's largest online marketplace auction and e-commerce sites, has deployed Blue Coat® ProxySG® appliances to facilitate faster and more secure operation of its China-based online business platforms, Alibaba.com and Taobao.com.
The Blue Coat appliances operate in front of Alibaba.com's servers, providing Web security, accommodating large numbers of users and accelerating the delivery of content from the individual servers. Rather than the servers having to re-serve information that it has to create for the same user requests, most of requests are "pre-served" by the ProxySG appliances and delivered to the user without requiring the application server to perform repetitive work.
More than 24 million users from over 200 countries and regions conduct business on Alibaba.com's online platforms. Large amounts of product and demand/supply information are continually posted and searched, resulting in significant workload pressure on the application servers. Alibaba.com has deployed multiple Blue Coat ProxySG appliances in front of high-workload network servers, with over 94.9 percent user inquiries directly provided by the Blue Coat appliances. The use of these appliances has helped to dramatically accelerate response time to users.
After being listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on November 6, 2007, Alibaba.com has faced increased expectations of network performance from both global users and investors. In order to provide better services and address foreseeable demand growth, Alibaba.com, after evaluating several solutions, selected Blue Coat appliances for its combination of acceleration, security and scalability.
"Blue Coat ProxySG appliances help Alibaba.com improve its competitive edge by making dramatic improvements in user response time while serving large numbers of users and providing the security that is so critical for a high profile business," said Matt Young, vice president, Asia Pacific, Blue Coat Systems. "Alibaba.com is a compelling example of the results customers can achieve from ProxySG appliances and the value that brings to important, growing businesses."
About Alibaba.com
Alibaba.com (HKSE:1688) is one of the world's premier e-commerce brands and the number one online marketplace for global and domestic China trade. Alibaba.com provides an efficient, trusted platform connecting small and medium-sized buyers and suppliers from around the world. Its international marketplace (www.alibaba.com) focuses on global importers and exporters and its China marketplace (www.alibaba.com.cn) focuses on suppliers and buyers trading domestically in China. Its operational headquarters is based in Hangzhou in eastern China. Alibaba.com field sales and marketing offices are located in more than 30 cities in China, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the United States. The company had more than 4,400 full-time employees as of June 30, 2007. Together its marketplaces form a community of more than 24 million registered users from over 200 countries and regions.
About Blue Coat Systems
Blue Coat secures Web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Blue Coat's family of appliances and client-based solutions - deployed in branch offices, Internet gateways, end points, and data centers - provide intelligent points of policy-based control enabling IT organizations to optimize security and accelerate performance between users and applications. Blue Coat has installed more than 40,000 appliances worldwide. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, and can be reached at (408) 220-2200 or www.bluecoat.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding Blue Coat Systems' expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future, and including statements regarding the capabilities and expected performance of Blue Coat Systems' products. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to Blue Coat Systems as of the date hereof, and Blue Coat Systems assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. These and other risks relating to Blue Coat Systems' business are set forth in Blue Coat Systems' Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2007, and Form 10-Q filed for the quarter ended January 31, 2008 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
