In recent times, Sprint has been suffering from subscriber losses and drop in average revenue per customer. For SK Telecom, the acquisition, if successful, will be beneficial to expand its global footprint, as both SK Telecom and Sprint employ same wireless technology.

According to media reports, both the parties have not reached any decision on the price of the deal.

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"Just as the DBA created a new employment category, we expect the Salesforce admin and Force.com developer certifications to create new job categories in SaaS and PaaS," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "Through the salesforce.com IdeaExchange, our customers, partners and developers have asked us to accelerate their success with our Salesforce CRM applications and Force.com platform with a formal certification program. This new initiative signals the momentum of the SaaS and PaaS marketplace - and is another step forward in our vision of the End of Software."

Community Driven Demand for Certification Program

In addition to thousands of listings for Salesforce and Force.com experience on industry job boards such as Craigslist.org, Dice, Monster, and http://developer.force.com, hundreds of votes and by customers, partners and developers have made a certification program the number one idea on the salesforce.com IdeaExchange. This community demand demonstrates the appetite in the salesforce.com eco-system for a formal certification program for Salesforce CRM applications and the Force.com platform.

"As an employer, I look for credentials," said George Kenessey, CEO, MyLoanBiz. "We can be confident that job candidates who have a salesforce.com certification have the technology and development skills we're looking for."

"As a recruiting firm focused in the SaaS space, we are constantly hearing from the Salesforce Admin community that there is a need for an official certification from salesforce.com," said Kim Wallins, Principal, Hire On-Demand. "It will make them more marketable and position them a step above their peers. From a company standpoint, it gives them additional peace of mind to know they are hiring someone who has completed a certification program delivered directly by salesforce.com."

Certification and SaaS and PaaS Market Momentum

Salesforce.com's move to roll out formal certification programs comes at a time when more and more companies are adopting SaaS and PaaS strategies. Research firm Gartner predicts that SaaS will become 25% of the overall software market by 2011.

As overall SaaS spending grows, certifications are becoming more and more important. With more than 43,600 customers, over 1 million subscribers and more than 90,000 developers in the developer.force.com program, salesforce.com is launching an official certification program to offer participants specific skills and give employers confidence they can hire the best-qualified people for key positions.

"The value of technology certifications is only going up, as witnessed by the growth in the certification market (6-8% CAGR)," said Doug Harward, CEO, TrainingIndustry.com. "Salesforce.com already offers award-winning training programs. Now, salesforce.com's certification program brings much needed coverage -- from the industry leader -- to the fastest growing parts of the IT market -- Software-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service. Individuals contemplating careers in Cloud Computing now have a way to not only get trained, but also earn a valuable credential."

Professional Learning Paths for Salesforce Administrators and Force.com Developers

For Salesforce CRM administrators and Force.com developers, certification helps to enhance skills, advance careers, and get the most out of Salesforce applications and the Force.com platform. In just a few days, hands-on, instructor-led courses prepare attendees to immediately implement newfound knowledge in current projects. Participants will also be prepared to take certification exams to earn the professional credential. There are three levels of certification offered for admins and developers: Admin/Developer, Advanced Admin/Developer and Master Admin/Developer.

Through the certification preparation courses, Salesforce CRM admins will learn how to quickly customize Salesforce including page layouts, fields, tabs, and business processes, create a secure Salesforce environment, maintain and import clean data, create high-value reports and dashboards, and much more. The advanced administrator certification includes topics such as managing data to keep it clean and up to date, increasing user adoption and enhancing end-user productivity, implementing complex business processes within Salesforce and much more.

Force.com developers will learn how to build and customize multiuser Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications with clicks rather than code, define the application's data model, customize the user interface, create advanced workflows and validations, automate business processes and much more. The advanced Force.com developer certification will cover topics such as Visualforce, using the Apex on-demand programming language, and Development-as-a-Service.

Pricing and Availability

The initial Salesforce CRM administrator course, Administration Essentials, costs $3,000 for a 4 day course. The initial Force.com developer certification course, Developer Essentials, costs $4,000 for a 5 day course. Course fees include a voucher to take the certification exam. Exams can also be purchased separately through testing centers for $200.

The Salesforce CRM administrator certification courses and tests are available now in North America. Force.com developer certification courses are currently scheduled to be available in North America in August 2008. The salesforce.com certification program is currently scheduled to be available in EMEA beginning in August 2008.

For more information, or to sign up, please visit: http://www.salesforce.com/certification.

Customers, Partners and Developers Comment on Salesforce.com Certification Program:

"Salesforce.com has done a great job encouraging developers to work with the Force.com platform. I've been waiting for a certification program that validates my skill set."

-- A.J. Dellicicchi, Senior Developer, Eduventures, Inc.

"As we grow we are always on the lookout for qualified Force.com developers. The Salesforce.com Certification Program will make it much easier to identify, evaluate, and hire qualified candidates."

-- John Barnes, vice president, Technology, Model Metrics

"The Salesforce.com Certification Program is a great idea! I have other industry certifications and plan to be certified in Salesforce, too. "

-- Aneesh Bhatia, Helix Energy Solutions Group

"I have certifications from various vendors, but a salesforce.com certification would outweigh them all. I've been waiting for this."

-- Doyle Moody, Chief Developer, The Schumacher Group

About salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The company's portfolio of SaaS applications, including its award-winning CRM, available at http://www.salesforce.com/products/, has revolutionized the ways that customers manage and share business information over the Internet. The company's Force.com PaaS enables customers, developers and partners to build powerful on-demand applications that deliver the benefits of multi-tenancy across the enterprise. Applications built on the Force.com platform, available at http://www.force.com/, can be easily shared, exchanged and installed with a few simple clicks via salesforce.com's AppExchange marketplace available at http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/.

As of April 30, 2008, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 43,600 customers including ABN AMRO, Dow Jones Newswires, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, Sprint Nextel, and SunTrust Banks. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM". For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Copyright (c) 2008 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Salesforce.com

http://www.salesforce.com

Sprint is further enhancing its network by deploying 40-Gbps circuits and expanding available capacity for its customers. Earlier this year, Sprint completed final testing of the 40-Gbps IPoDWDM technology and enabled their first production 40-Gbps circuit. This converged solution used the Cisco(R) CRS-1 Carrier Routing System with built-in transponders along with Ciena's CoreStream(R) Agility platform to transport the wavelength across the fiber-optic network. To date, several 40-Gbps circuits have been deployed, and those are carrying commercial IP-based services.

"Sprint's network capabilities support the growing use of the Internet, as well as the growth we are seeing with Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) services - and our efforts to effectively migrate customers from legacy technologies to SprintLink IP and Global MPLS platforms," said Kathy Walker, chief information and network officer for Sprint. "Deployment of 40-Gbps circuits throughout our IP core enables next-generation data, voice and video applications and allows Sprint to scale its IP network to address customer needs, as IP increasingly becomes the basis of communications services."

As a long-standing customer of multiple Ciena platforms, Sprint began deploying CoreStream, with its 100G-ready scalable capacity and flexible design, in its Tier 1 IP backbone in 2000 and has more than 1,000 nodes deployed across its network today.

"By delivering 40-Gbps wavelengths over the existing CoreStream network, Sprint is streamlining its operational efficiency by delivering up to 3.2 terabits-per-second (Tbps) of capacity over a minimum number of wavelengths and without doing costly overbuilds," said Steve Alexander, CTO of Ciena. "This approach underscores Ciena's commitment to maximizing the lifecycle of our customers' network investment so it continuously scales and adapts over time to help them capitalize on the business opportunities presented by mobile broadband, Ethernet and IP-based services."

The implementation of IPoDWDM drives efficiencies by eliminating client connections between the router and DWDM system and increasing bandwidth four times by transmitting 40-Gbps across an existing 10-Gbps DWDM system. The integration of router and DWDM transponder components reduces network complexity and increases the scalability and resiliency of the backbone. IPoDWDM can also position Sprint to rapidly move to higher data rates (e.g., 100-Gbps) without overhauling the network infrastructure.

"Cisco pioneered IP over DWDM by introducing it to the industry in December 2005," said Kelly Ahuja, Cisco vice president and general manager of the service provider routing technology group. "Sprint was an early adopter of both it and our IP NGN architecture to combine and distribute video, voice and data content rapidly to the benefit of its customers' network experiences and to do it efficiently to benefit its business."

ABOUT CIENA

Ciena specializes in network transition. We provide the flexible platforms, intelligent software and professional services to build converged networks for enhanced services and applications. With a growing global presence, Ciena leverages its heritage of practical innovation to deliver maximum performance and economic value in communications networks worldwide. For more information, visit www.ciena.com.

ABOUT CISCO

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.

ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving nearly 53 million customers at the end of the first quarter 2008; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

SOURCE: Sprint

Media Contacts:
Sprint
Jackie Bostick, (913) 794-3045
jackie.a.bostick@sprint.com
or
Cisco
Kevin Petschow, (773) 444-5106
kpetscho@cisco.com
or
Ciena Corporation
Nicole Anderson, (410) 694-5786
nanderso@ciena.com

IDeaS is one of the 43,600 companies of all sizes, industries and geographies that comprised the salesforce.com customer base as of April 30, 2008. Revenue and subscribers will be recognized as the service is delivered.

"The customizability of Salesforce is incredible. We've modified the app to align with all the intricacies of our business needs which are rooted in the deployment of our products in a SaaS environment. Salesforce simplifies our employee's lives -- a one stop shop for our internal business needs," says Leyna Hoffer, business systems manager at IDeaS.

IDeaS has used salesforce.com's platform and applications to run their entire business in the cloud. IDeaS used the Force.com platform to customize salesforce.com's applications to their specific needs, including tracking integration development with their many hospitality solution partners. Additionally, IDeaS has used Force.com to integrate Salesforce CRM with a number of internal business applications, including WebEx and IDeaS' client and partner portals. IDeaS' 24/7 call center in India, along with account reps scattered across the globe, leverages Salesforce Call Center -- using case assignment, escalation, Web-to-case, and auto-response email functionality. Finally, IDeaS also uses Salesforce Partners for a partner portal to manage relationships with their distributors.

At IDeaS, managers turn to salesforce.com's AppExchange when they need a new application or business tool. Any application from the software-as-a- service marketplace can be installed and made accessible to IDeaS employees with just a few clicks.

IDeaS has deployed several apps via the AppExchange, including:

-- Survey Administration, from Clicktools, to enable the client services group to create and update information residing in Salesforce using surveys. Customer responses to surveys are automatically updated in Salesforce and linked to the corresponding contact.

-- Call Scripting, from salesforce.com, to provide scripts and coaching tips designed to help IDeaS troubleshoot support issues. The application also produces interactive scripts that can be customized with specific questions for proactive customer calls. Answers are captured directly in the scripts and automatically added to the appropriate contact records in Salesforce.

-- DreamTeam, from Dreamfactory, provides a solution for project management, collaborative calendaring, and document management. DreamTeam is fully native to the Force.com Platform, enabling a synchronized view of tasks, events, contacts, users, documents, and folders.

-- EmployeeManager, from salesforce.com, provides IDeaS HR department with a means to manage employees' personal and business information, track employee performance reviews and compensation history, maintain employee growth and store position-related data within salesforce.com.

-- EventForce, from salesforce.com, provides complete visibility to events planned by the IDeaS team, including rich event session management.

-- InfoCenter, from Arrowpointe Corp. provides a mechanism for publishing messages, FAQs, and links to Salesforce users.

"As a SaaS vendor ourselves, we understand the benefits of a solution that provides information from a centralized source. Extending functionality of Salesforce through the use of AppExchange, returns that much more on our investment. We've implemented a strategic initiative which requires a check of the AppExchange prior to any new business application purchases," states Hoffer.

About IDeaS Revenue Optimization

IDeaS Revenue Optimization is the premier provider of enterprise revenue management and optimization solutions and consulting. By providing Forecasting, Optimization and Pricing solutions and services, coupled with IDeaS' On Demand Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, IDeaS can help make an immediate impact on company revenue and profitability.

IDeaS goal is to work hand-in-hand with clients to identify strategically important, complex business problems and then develop unique revenue management and optimization strategies that enable global organizations to understand, anticipate and react to consumer behavior in order to maximize company-wide revenue or profits.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, IDeaS maintains global technology, support, sales and distribution offices in North & South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.ideas.com.

About salesforce.com

Salesforce.com is the market and technology leader in Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). The company's portfolio of SaaS applications, including its award-winning CRM, available at http://www.salesforce.com/products/, has revolutionized the ways that customers manage and share business information over the Internet. The company's Force.com PaaS enables customers, developers and partners to build powerful on-demand applications that deliver the benefits of multi-tenancy across the enterprise. Applications built on the Force.com platform, available at http://www.force.com/, can be easily shared, exchanged and installed with a few simple clicks via salesforce.com's AppExchange marketplace available at http://www.salesforce.com/appexchange/.

As of April 30, 2008, salesforce.com manages customer information for approximately 43,600 customers including ABN AMRO, Dow Jones Newswires, Japan Post, Kaiser Permanente, KONE, Sprint Nextel, and SunTrust Banks. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase salesforce.com applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CRM". For more information please visit http://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.

Copyright (c) 2008 salesforce.com, inc. All rights reserved. Salesforce and the "no software" logo are registered trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and salesforce.com owns other registered and unregistered trademarks. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Salesforce.com

http://www.salesforce.com