Palisade launches PalNet business partner program Major initiative follows 60% growth in channel sales

AMES, Iowa. (December 20, 2004) - Palisade Systems, a leading provider of network management and security solutions, announced today the launch of a new business partner program as part of its global channel strategy. This new initiative, PalNet, aims to significantly increase channel coverage and sales worldwide by attracting new resellers, service providers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). PalNet bolsters efforts by Palisade to provide its partners with comprehensive technical and sales support.

PalNet offers the following benefits to Palisade partners:

· Sales and technical training as well as additional support allowing resellers to better advise customers on network management and security practices.
· A process where approved partners gain higher margins.
· Joint marketing assistance to help partners educate and effectively sell products to customers and potential clients.
· Incentive plans to reward partner sales performance.

"Development of channel sales are critical to quickly delivering our leading edge solutions to a larger market,' said Kurt Shedenhelm, Palisade Systems' president and chief executive officer. "The PalNet program is a sign of our commitment to developing a strong channel presence which has already grown by 60% over the last year. Further, we are shifting to a channel sales only model, which means that all of our sales support will be focused on resellers.'

"Palisade Systems provides us with dedicated support throughout the sales cycle,' said Doug Nelson, Kairos InfoSec Systems' principal of sales and business development. "The flexibility of their products and the attention they give to our selling and technical needs for each client has made it simple to get started.'

Palisade Systems offers resellers and customers multiple network appliances to manage and secure a networked environment. The company's leading and award-winning product, PacketHound, gives resellers the ability to provide increased levels of network security beyond existing firewalls and filters. PacketHound monitors all network traffic, identifies inappropriate or potentially damaging network connections and logs or blocks the protocols, applications, worms, and vulnerabilities specified by the user in the rules set. PacketHound also eliminates bandwidth abuse from activities such as P2P file sharing and intruder exploitation. Moreover, an organization can reduce legal liability by blocking the download of copyrighted materials or block access to offensive and inappropriate web sites by using PacketHound.

"Palisade Systems' PacketHound and FireBlock give us a perfect solution for proactively securing and auditing our banking customers' networks,' said Brent Addison, vice president of sales at ANE Technologies. "They have consistently listened to our feedback on their products and quickly incorporated our suggestions in their future product releases.'

About Palisade Systems, Inc. Palisade Systems, Inc., founded in 1996, offers multiple network appliances that help organizations analyze network activity and identify problem areas. The appliances can then be customized to manage network traffic to maximize efficiency and protect critical network assets against a variety of threats from benign utilization issues to malicious attacks. Each Palisade appliance is an easy-to-implement, proactive approach to network management based on patented technology. FireBlock controls internal network access. ScreenDoor filters Internet web sites, Smoke Detector provides honeynet-style intrusion detection, and PacketHound manages network applications and protocols. First introduced in 2000, PacketHound has since been recognized with the R&D 100 award and the eSchool News Readers Choice Award. Palisade's products are used in hundreds of businesses, schools, and universities throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.palisadesys.com or contact Palisade's sales department at 1.888.824.0720.