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Shaklee Boosts Health of Global Network Communications With Virtela Managed Network Services

Posted on: Monday, 22 May 2006, 12:00 CDT

DENVER, May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtela, the global network solutions company, today announced that Shaklee Corporation, a leading health and wellness company, is using Virtela's managed IP Virtual Private Network (VPN) and remote access services to enable its employees to more easily communicate and share data and applications across their global operations in Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and the U.S.

Shaklee, the 50-year-old provider of nutritional and personal care products, has embarked upon a growth strategy to expand from five to 50 countries within the next 10 years. Rather than invest the sizeable resources required to build and maintain a global network, Shaklee wanted a strategic partner that could deliver a global footprint, manage the network day-to-day and scale in lockstep with their aggressive expansion efforts.

"Virtela was the clear choice for three key reasons: value, relationship and service commitment," said Ken Harris, Shaklee's Chief Information Officer. "Virtela had the best value proposition of the 10 service providers we evaluated. Moreover, they invested a lot of time to develop a strong relationship with us and were willing to commit to very high service levels, backed by a financial commitment to meet those service levels."

Virtela aggregates and integrates the best local, regional and global networks around the world to offer unparalleled geographic reach. By adding a unique layer of intelligence that performs optimal routing and automatic fail-over between networks, Virtela's multi-carrier Global Service Fabric infrastructure gives enterprises an inherently higher performing, more reliable and cost effective alternative than single carrier networks. Virtela is the single point of contact for expert design, implementation, 24x7 monitoring and management of customer networks.

Shaklee's network implementation and performance has exceeded expectations, with circuits consistently delivered ahead of schedule, a strong record of reliability and overall cost savings. "Customer service is great," added Greg Fina, Shaklee's Director of IT Architecture and Quality. "We have not had a customer service issue with Virtela in the year that we've been a customer. Provisioning is what we really appreciate about Virtela, with circuits in Mexico, for example, delivered two weeks ahead of schedule."

Employees can now access data, voice and web applications that are the bread-and-butter of Shaklee's multi-level marketing business, handling everything from order entry to commissions. All applications are sourced from a centralized data center instead of several locations previously. The company is also rolling out Voice over IP (VoIP) over the Virtela network for more cost-effective inter-office calling, and in the process has consolidated three PBXs to one.

"With the Virtela network, we've been able to consolidate data centers, reduce operational cost and increase the value of IT to the business," Fina said. "Through consolidation alone, the Virtela network has paid for itself."

Although Shaklee's initial needs were for wide-area network management, the company has since expanded its relationship with Virtela to use its remote access services to enable mobile workers to more easily and securely access the corporate network. The remote access solution features added security through Virtela's virtualized RSA Secure ID two-factor authentication service, which does not require any upfront capital expenditure.

"The Shaklee network is an excellent example of how Virtela's business model helps ease the barriers to international expansion for many enterprises," said Virtela CEO Larry Morgan. "They have been a great partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship and delivering even more value to their business."

About Shaklee Corporation

Since it was founded in 1956, Shaklee Corporation has led the way in environmental stewardship and social responsibility for improving the well-being of people around the world. One of the first companies to develop a biodegradable cleaner to help reduce pollution, Shaklee Corporation has also helped plant one million trees in Asia and in 2002 became the first Climate Neutral(TM) company to receive the EPA's Climate Protection Award for having a net zero impact on climate change.

For 50 years, Shaklee has been a leading provider of premium quality, natural nutrition and personal care products, environmentally friendly household products, and state-of-the-art air and water treatment systems. The Shaklee brand is synonymous with high quality and efficacy, representing one of the most well-established names in the nutritional supplement and direct selling industries. With a robust product portfolio, including over 48 patents and patents pending worldwide, Shaklee operates in Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico and the U.S., and has over 700,000 members worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.shaklee.com/.

About Virtela

Virtela Communications Inc. delivers award-winning network and security solutions to many of the world's largest and fastest-growing multinational companies. Currently serving customers across six continents, Virtela's network reach spans more than 190 countries. Virtela's unique Global Service Fabric(SM) offers the foundation for delivering critical applications via the company's acclaimed service methodology, with a services suite that includes IP-based virtual private networks (VPNs), security services, Voice over IP, Video over IP, and network consulting services.

Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with a second Network Operations Center in Mumbai, India. Virtela is a member of Juniper Networks Managed Network Solutions Preferred Alliance Program. For more information, please call +1 (720) 475-4000 or visit http://www.virtela.net/.

Virtela Communications Inc.

CONTACT: Jane Morrissey of Virtela Communications, +1-720-475-4012,jmorrissey@virtela.net

Web site: http://www.shaklee.com/

Web site: http://www.virtela.net/

Source: PRNewswire

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