BT Signs hps and Cloverleaf Communications to Deliver Intelligent Storage Networking Solutions to UK Customers

SOUTHBOROUGH, MASS and LONDON, October 13, 2004 - British Telecom (BT) today announced that following successful trials at its Martlesham laboratories, and in partnership with hps, it will deliver the Cloverleaf Intelligent Storage Networking (iSN) system to its UK customer base. BT will employ the services of hps, the independent storage networking integrator, to supply, install, and commission the products at BT customer sites.

This solution provides BT with the capability to deliver Information Lifecycle Management solutions to customers with heterogeneous server and storage platforms. The product is designed with enterprise class scalability, fault tolerance and availability. The iSN's powerful, open software is tightly integrated with best-of-breed, off the shelf, hardware components to ensure data protection and business continuity from a centralized management base.

Craig Parker, Head of Storage, BT Retail stated, "We are confident that the state-of-the-art capability inherent in Cloverleaf iSN will be a major factor in accelerating our deployment of managed storage services to our clients. The Cloverleaf iSN system enables substantial cost savings and increases in productivity, while delivering unique high-value storage software services, such as data protection and business continuity, to our customers. This will be a genuine differentiator for us in this competitive marketplace."

Joseph Klein, Co-founder and COO of Cloverleaf Communications stated, "This partnership with BT and HPS is an important relationship for Cloverleaf, providing a proven and successful channel for delivering iSN to the UK market.  The Cloverleaf system truly provides both BT and hps with a distinct advantage. The iSN enables BT to be even more efficient in providing utility storage services, offer very flexible and vendor-independent services and support for meaningful, QoS and SLA agreements. The Cloverleaf system also uniquely supplies hps with the tools and management capabilities to allow customers to make changes incrementally and non-disruptively. Most importantly, the iSN's capabilities impact end users, who ultimately benefit by getting the same high level services they need to run their businesses across their entire networked storage infrastructure while significantly reducing costs."

Malcolm Hopping, Managing Director of hps, stated, "As BT's technology incubator, they rely on our vision to introduce products that will deliver a competitive advantage, and that is precisely what Cloverleaf does."

The Cloverleaf iSN is an intelligent, network resident, storage network management system that provides a combination of benefits, features and capabilities uniquely qualified to meet the demands of mid to large-sized data centers. The iSN incorporates a proven architecture that delivers linear scalability, strong fault tolerance and high levels of availability. The iSN's powerful, open software is tightly integrated with best-of-breed off the shelf hardware components and provides broad interoperability and networking technology flexibility.

About hps

hps are the UK's only truly independent storage networking integrator. HPS focus on the critical issues of delivering scalable resilient storage network infrastructures and management, aligned to the needs of the business. Using the SANwise(tm) process guarantees the best solution when designing and implementing cost efficient and scalable storage networking solutions.

About Cloverleaf Communications

Cloverleaf, established in May 2001 as a spin-off of Elta Systems Ltd., has developed a unique and proven intelligent storage networking system offering end users an unmatched combination of advanced business continuity and data protection services, the ability to implement tiered storage in a heterogeneous environment and a comprehensive suite of intelligent, policy based, storage management functions. Based on technology from Cloverleaf's parent company Elta Systems, a large technology powerhouse affiliated with Israel Aircraft Industries, Cloverleaf's core technology has already been tested and proven with very-high performance and secure communications systems in mission critical defense and commercial applications.  Cloverleaf is privately held.  For more information visit www.cloverleafcomm.com