3Com Corporation is one of the world’s leading providers of secure, converged voice and data networking, with a broad portfolio of solutions that enable its customers to communicate via voice, data or a combination of the two, using a wired or wireless device of their choice, regardless of location, with the confidence that it is fully secured. 3Com’s innovative products, backed by world-class service and support, reduce network complexity and cost to deliver superior business value for organizations of all sizes.
Since the company’s founder created Ethernet in 1979, 3Com has had a major impact on computer networking, and the company has over 1,300 issued U.S. patents and more than 300 pending U.S. patent applications to date. According to recent analyst reports, 3Com is #1 in China for enterprise stackable switches, routers and IP storage, and #2 worldwide in enterprise and SMB Ethernet switching ports and enterprise routers.
3Com is the owner of H3C, a China-based joint venture originally formed by 3Com and Huawei in 2003 with a focus on delivering enterprise networking solutions to China and Japan. On March 29th 2007, 3Com acquired 100% of the company. H3C brings 3Com innovative and cost-effective product development and a strong footprint in one of the world's most dynamic markets.
3Com’s GAAP revenue for FY07 was $1.3 billion, up 59% over FY06. 3Com ended FY07 with $559 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
The company currently has more than 6,000 employees in over 40 countries.
Why 3Com?
3Com’s proven, broad-based portfolio of edge-to-core networking solutions provides superior business value by leveraging open industry standards and bringing to market high quality, low cost, best-of-breed solutions.
Networking
3Com believes that networks must deliver intelligence, flexibility and control as well as best price/performance. 3Com® Open Services Networking (3Com OSN) differentiates the company’s secure, converged network solutions through an open, interoperable architecture. 3Com OSN enables a rich and diverse set of third-party, open source and 3Com applications and services to run seamlessly inside the network infrastructure. By tightly integrating applications and services within the network infrastructure, 3Com OSN enables unparalleled flexibility, visibility and control of network traffic and application performance.
OSN is the industry’s first open platform that integrates best-of-breed applications into the network infrastructure, enabling organizations to deliver differentiated services, operational simplicity and cost savings while proactively addressing ever-changing business needs. Unlike single-vendor offerings that lock customers in to a limited and pre-determined set of applications, OSN provides flexibility and choice, enabling managed service providers (MSPs) and system integrators (SIs) to differentiate their service offerings with third party, internally developed or open source applications to meet their customers’ ever changing needs. 3Com’s standards-based networking architecture lets organisations pick and choose components that match their business strategies and budgets.
3Com offers a rich choice of network platforms, purpose-built for converged environments, including resilient backbones, edge aggregation, workgroup connectivity and branch office services. Switching solutions range from advanced modular core switches with terabit speed to stackable switches that combine flexibility with affordability. Based on the latest Wi-Fi standards and security measures, 3Com wireless routers, access points, controllers, and bridges give SMBs and large enterprises the agility to cost-effectively grow and support their workforces.
Security
3Com is strengthening the foundation of corporate networks with innovative new products that push “intelligence”—usually reserved for the network core—to the network edge. All 3Com solutions have security elements built in. As voice networks become prey to the same dangers as data networks, this is an over-riding concern for network managers, and 3Com addresses this need across its portfolio.
TippingPoint, a wholly owned subsidiary of 3Com, introduced the first Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) in 2002 and is still the recognised leader in this field, delivering in-depth application, infrastructure and performance protection.
Convergence
3Com has been changing the way businesses speak since it brought the first IP-PBX to market in 1998. Now, 3Com delivers advanced voice and data convergence solutions designed for easy implementation in new or existing IT infrastructures. 3Com’s IP phone systems, applications and platforms let everyone from small and mid-sized businesses to large distributed global enterprises benefit from productivity-enhancing applications and cost-effective SIP-based Voice over IP services. 3Com IP telephony platforms help businesses thrive with global calling plans, call recording, unified voice mail and media-rich conferencing.
Worldwide Customer Service and Support
3Com’s ongoing commitment to service excellence is demonstrated by an expanding support infrastructure with seasoned professional service engineers adept at integrating security, voice and data across multi-vendor networks. 3Com recently announced a restructuring of its EMEA service and support aimed at improving service resolution delivery and giving more personal attention to its EMEA customers. By bringing technical support for enterprise customers in-house at 3Com’s EMEA headquarters in Hemel Hempstead, UK, and engaging Sykes Enterprises in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to support SMB customers, resolution times have been improved and customer intimacy increased.