News and Events

2006

FORCE10 NETWORKS NAMES INDUSTRY VETERAN KAREN BLASING AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

MILPITAS, Calif., June 29, 2006 — Force10 Networks®, a pioneer in building and securing high performance networks, today announced that it has named industry veteran Karen Blasing as chief financial officer. Ms. Blasing, who has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, strategy and compliance, will be responsible for managing Force10’s financial resources and processes as the company expands its worldwide operations.

“Karen brings significant experience, with both public and private companies, in successfully directing financial operations for the benefit of investors, customers, partners and employees,” said Marc Randall, president and CEO of Force10 Networks. “Karen’s financial insight and acumen will be instrumental as Force10 scales to its next level of growth.”

Ms. Blasing joins Force10 from Salesforce.com, where she had responsibility for worldwide accounting, finance, tax and treasury functions as well as real estate, facilities and procurement. Prior to Salesforce.com, she served as chief financial officer at Nuance Communications, where she was instrumental in negotiating the 2005 merger with ScanSoft, Inc. Ms. Blasing also served as chief financial officer for Counterpane Internet Security and has held senior finance positions with Informix, Oracle and Syntex Corporation.

“Force10 is uniquely positioned in the networking industry with a marquee customer list and a history of growing sales ahead of the market,” said Blasing. “As Force10 continues to expand its worldwide operations, I look forward to further developing and directing the resources required to extend the company’s technological innovation and market leadership.”

Ms. Blasing holds a BA from the University of Montana and an MBA from the University of Washington. She is a member of the Financial Executives Institute and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives.

Contact:
Peter Ruzicka
Force10 Networks Inc.
408-965-5151
pruzicka@force10networks.com

Contact:
Jennifer Arculeo
Force10 Networks Inc.
408-965-5194
jarculeo@force10networks.com

About Force10 Networks
Force10 Networks is the pioneer in building and securing high performance networks. Based on a revolutionary system architecture that delivers best-in-class resiliency and massive scalability, Force10’s TeraScale E-Series switch/routers ensure predictable application performance, increase network availability, and reduce operating costs. Today, many of the world’s largest Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks depend on Force10 Networks. For additional information, please visit www.force10networks.com.

Force10 Networks and E-Series are registered trademarks, and P-Series, S-Series, TeraScale and FTOS are trademarks of Force10 Networks, Inc. All other company names are trademarks of their respective holders.