Editor Contact:
Elaine Ordiz
GolinHarris (for Blade.org)
213-438-8710

For Immediate Release

Blade.org Establishes Venture Capital Advisory Board to Guide Blade Standard and Future Solutions

Avnet to support member companies with solutions and channel enablement consultations

San Francisco, Calif. , June 27, 2007 -- Blade.org, the industry consortium driving innovation in blade-based solutions, today announced its new Venture Capital Advisory Board to provide strategic guidance to Blade.org members on the future of blade technologies and strategies. Founding members of the VC Advisory Board will consist of leaders and influencers from key industry VC firms including Accel, Intel Capital, Mayfield, U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) and Walden International.

Blade computers integrate servers, storage, networking and applications into one system. The blade server market is rapidly expanding as more customers look for the flexibility and ease of management blade computing offers, giving them a competitive advantage in the marketplace. With the blade server market predicted to grow from $3B to $11B by 2010¹, the global venture capital community has invested over $1B in the last two years to fund companies developing emerging technologies and solutions in this rapidly growing market.

"The venture capital advisory board will provide Blade.org members invaluable insights on emerging markets and technology trends, and help steer the evolution of blade technology," said Vikram Karvat, senior marketing director of NetXen, and governing board member of Blade.org. "The ability to network with this community will be particularly useful for companies seeking to bring new, cutting edge solutions to market. Ultimately, the VC expertise will help to accelerate the breadth and depth of blade solutions, and expand the blade computing ecosystem worldwide."

The Blade.org VC Advisory Board includes:

• Carl Everett, Venture Partner, Accel
• Bryan Wolf, Managing Director, Intel Capital
• Kevin Fong, Managing Director, Mayfield Fund
• David Liddle, General Partner, U.S. Venture Partners
• Lip-Bu Tan, Chairman AND CEO, Walden International
• Andy Kau, Managing Director, Walden International

"This is the ideal time and opportunity to partner with an organization like Blade.org, which is helping spur innovative collaboration in the rapidly-growing blade server market," said Carl Everett, Partner, Accel. "This partnership will also expand the VC community’s access to portfolio companies that share Blade.org’s commitment to creating robust blade-based solutions for customers worldwide."

To date, more than 50 global venture capital firms, including Walden International, USVP, Accel, Austin Ventures, Mayfield and others have portfolios with many of Blade.org’s member organizations, building support for the blade server architecture and development based on open hardware standards. Blade.org members are actively collaborating to build blade-related technologies, such as special purpose blade servers, interconnect technologies, management tools and vertical industry solutions.

The board held its first meeting at the quarterly all-members meeting today in San Mateo and will continue to share its recommendations with Blade.org members and the governing board on an ongoing basis.

Avnet's Customized Solutions and Channel Enablement Consultations

In alignment with the VC council’s objectives to help guide Blade.org and expand the blade server ecosystem, Blade.org member Avnet Technology Solutions will provide customized solutions and channel enablement consultations to support Blade.org members. These consultations are ideal for Blade.org members, especially smaller VC-funded companies, which need guidance in developing routes to market for their products or additional technical support in developing complete blade-based solutions. Avnet will help companies identify ways to configure, integrate, market, sell and finance complete solutions, including both hardware and software. Avnet will also work with Blade.org members to pinpoint specific business challenges and opportunities that could be addressed through partnering to meet the holistic business needs of their customers.

"Success hinges on a company’s ability to focus on its core competency and rely on trusted partners to supplement its expertise in bringing total solutions to market," said Sara Jensen, vice president, product marketing, IBM Business Unit, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. "Avnet’s solutions and channel enablement consultations provide Blade.org members with clarity and guidance on areas where Avnet and its partners can assist them with technical resources and in bringing their solutions to market more efficiently and cost effectively. As a result, companies will be able to identify opportunities to enhance their revenues, profitability and solution offerings."

Avnet will offer complimentary needs assessment consultations to members that complete profiles between July 1, 2007 and August 31, 2007. These consultations are the first step in assisting member organizations in developing clear business models and strategies that address their unique market challenges. Participating companies will be able to draw upon Avnet’s expertise as one of IBM's largest trading partners that has built its business by bringing value to technology suppliers and channel partners. Through its participation in Blade.org, Avnet has developed profitable relationships between technology developers and channel partners to help them accelerate their growth by providing the right blend of logistics, sales, marketing, financial and technical resources to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

About Avnet Technology Solutions

Avnet Technology Solutions is an operating group of Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) representing US$5.1 billion in annual revenue for calendar year 2006, with locations in more than 30 countries. As a global technology sales and marketing organization, Avnet Technology Solutions has sales divisions focused on specific customer segments and a select line card strategy enabling an exceptional level of attention to the needs of its customers and suppliers. Visit www.ats.avnet.com/.

About Avnet

With more than 250 locations serving customers in 70 countries worldwide, Avnet markets, distributes and adds value to the products of the world's leading electronic component suppliers, enterprise computer manufacturers and embedded subsystem providers. Additionally, Avnet brings a breadth and depth of service capabilities, such as supply-chain optimization, logistics solutions, product assembly, device programming, computer system integration and engineering design assistance. For the fiscal year ended July 1, 2006, Avnet generated revenue of $14.25 billion. Visit www.avnet.com/.

(1) IDC: Worldwide and U.S. Blade Server 2006-2010 Forecast and 2005 Vendor Shares.

Media contact for Avnet

Jamie Ernst
Brodeur, for Avnet
210-495-5757
jernst@brodeur.com

About Blade.org

Blade.org is a collaborative vendor and end-user community focused on accelerating the development and adoption of blade server solutions. The organization provides leadership to the blade market and fosters a thriving industry ecosystem focused on delivering valuable solutions to blade computing customers. More information is available at www.blade.org.

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