Handheld market leader strengthens support for developer partners creating enterprise solutions for industries including health care, finance and field service automation

SANTA CLARA, Calif., September 29, 1997 -- 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) today introduced the PalmPilot Solution Provider Program for independent software and hardware vendors (ISVs and IHVs), value added resellers (VARs), system integrators (SIs) and consulting organizations designing world-class custom solutions for the company's market-leading PalmPilot handheld computing platform. Building on the success of the PalmPilot platform as a foundation for data management solutions for the enterprise, the new program further strengthens 3Com's support for the development of corporate handheld solutions in a broad range of industries.

The PalmPilot Solution Provider Program is designed to help ISVs, IHVs, VARs, SIs and consulting organizations maximize business opportunities in a wide variety of handheld solutions markets, including health care, insurance, real estate, legal, banking and financial services, and sales force and field service automation. Program participants may be eligible for a broad range of services and support from 3Com. Development and marketing services include technical support and training , access to on-line forums, special hardware discounts, event and other co-marketing support, electronic and catalog promotion and joint sales call support.

The mobile computing developer community has shown strong support for the PalmPilot platform, with over 3,000 PalmPilot software development kits in use and hundreds of applications already available. Due to this broad interest, 3Com will host the first PalmPilot Developer Conference October 14-17 in San Francisco. The conference will feature keynotes from handheld and mobile computing industry leaders and visionaries including Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins of 3Com, Robert Amezcua of IBM Global Mobile Solutions, and Stewart Alsop of New Venture Associates.

"Our development and reseller partners have helped to establish the viability of the PalmPilot platform as an enterprise solution and broaden its functionality in many vertical market segments," said Ed Colligan, vice president of marketing for Palm Computing, the 3Com subsidiary that develops and markets the PalmPilot product. "This program is a great way of helping our partners create and promote the solutions necessary to meet the needs of a fast-growing number of corporate PalmPilot product customers, while adding great value to the overall PalmPilot platform."

"The PalmPilot platform provides an excellent foundation for developing custom applications for the health care industry," said David Rensin, Practice Area Manager of the Mobile Computing Group of systems integrator Noblestar Systems Corp. "We're working with major health service providers such as Outreach Health services to build mission-critical applications for mobile data management, and it has proven to be a great success. We see parallel opportunities for PalmPilot platform solutions in many other industries, including telecommunications, real estate, insurance and banking."

"3Com has already delivered an ideal platform for building world-class handheld applications for the enterprise," said Doug Engfer, president of The Windward Group, a leading software development service provider and developer of many custom and commercial PalmPilot applications. "With this new program, they are showing true commitment to their development partners and providing important resources to help us continue to bring the best possible handheld computing solutions to the market."

ISVs, IHVs, VARs, and partners delivering packaged PalmPilot applications as well as those designing custom solutions for Fortune 500-class companies or small and mid-sized companies may qualify for the Solution Provider Program. 3Com will provide various levels of support for participants on the basis of solution development expertise, product plans, target markets, and size of the market for which they are providing a solution. For more information on the PalmPilot Solution Providers Program, the PalmPilot Developer Conference and the PalmPilot product, developers may visit http://www.palmpilot.com.

ABOUT 3COM
3Com Corporation enables individuals and organizations worldwide to communicate and share information and resources at anytime from anywhere. As one of the world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking solutions to more than 100 million customers worldwide. With global reach and local touch, the company gives enterprises, network service providers and carriers, small businesses and consumers comprehensive, innovative information access products and system solutions for building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide area networks. 3Com has worldwide revenues of more than $5.6 billion and employs approximately 13,000 people in 45 countries. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at http://www.3com.com.

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