Blue Coat surges past Cisco and Network Appliance to 'Number One' position according to new industry report

Dubai - February 27th, 2005: Blue Coat Systems today announced that it has achieved the number one position in the worldwide market for secure content and application delivery appliances according to a new report issued by IDC, a leading market research and advisory firm. The report, entitled, Worldwide Content and Application Networking, 1H 2005 Market Share, ranks the revenues for vendors of secure content and application delivery appliances and shows that Blue Coat has risen to market leader with 37 percent share in the first half of calendar year 2005. According to the report, Blue Coat remains the fastest growing vendor in the marketplace.

"Blue Coat's growth reflects the continuing market demand for products that provide visibility and control of Web communications for protection, performance and policy enforcement," said Lucinda Borovick, director of datacenter networks for IDC. "The secure content and application delivery market is a key component as customers begin to build an application aware network."

"Achieving the number one market position for proxy appliances represents a major milestone for Blue Coat and clearly shows the value and uniqueness of our solutions," said Ray Kafity, Blue Coat Middle East general manager. "Enterprises understand the growing need for a proxy platform that operates between users and Web applications, providing protection, control and acceleration of Web traffic. Our success comes from having a solution with a unique combination of flexible control and accelerated performance."

The announcement comes on the heels Blue Coat Middle East's announcement of its financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2006 ended October 31, 2005, where sales revenue increased 15% year on year, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) leading the GCC countries in terms of sales revenue, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar.

The company's revenue from the Middle East region contributed 5.1 percent to Blue Coat's total worldwide sales, a formidable number given that technology multinationals operating in the area contribute an average of one to two percent to global revenues.

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About Blue Coat Systems:
Blue Coat helps organizations make the Web safe and productive for business. Blue Coat proxy appliances provide visibility and control of Web communications to protect against risks from spyware, Web viruses, inappropriate Web surfing, instant messaging (IM), video streaming and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing - while actually improving Web performance. Trusted by many of the world's largest organizations, Blue Coat has shipped more than 25,000 proxy appliances. 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' most recently filed Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2005, and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Note: All trademarks, trade names or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

For more information, please contact:
Blue Coat
Dubai Internet City, Cannon building 9, office 313
P.O. Box 72377
Dubai - UAE
Tel: (971-4) 391-1620
FAX: (971-4) 391-1635
E-mail: luqmanmc@eim.ae

For media requests, please contact:
Layth Dajani
The CONTENT Factory
P.O. Box 29764, Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Tel: +97143341880
Fax: +97184480574
Mobile: +971507145640
E-mail: layth@tcf-me.com

© Press Release 2006