Network World, 01/04/99

CRAIG BARRETT CEO, INTEL

What company sets the bargain basement prices for Fast Ethernet switches and adapters? What company 's making it cheaper and cheaper for users to implement 100M bit/sec switched networks? What company can make 3Com 's stock come tumbling down with one swift slash of the price of a 10/100 network interface card?

It 's not 3Com 's traditional network rivals Bay Networks, Cisco or Cabletron. It 's PC hardware kingpin Intel.

Intel CEO Craig Barrett is setting the pace by which a network becomes as commonplace as a PC. And now that Barrett 's Intel will acquire remote access mainstay Shiva, he hopes to make LAN and WAN networking synonymous with buying and owning a PC.

While Barrett and Intel aren 't breaking new ground in enterprise networking, he is empowering the company to turn established network technologies into commodities and shaking up the market. Intel also has the brand name that really sings in the lower end of the market. And Intel has a vested interest in boosting networking - it helps customers use more and more PC processor cycles, which keeps the PC revolution rolling apace.

BARRETT 'S CHALLENGE: Barrett 's job in 1999 will be maintaining the company 's rapid pace and keeping Intel in the forefront as a strong alternative to Compaq, which is also trying to use its well-known consumer brand name to shake up networking. Barrett also has to fight off the Ciscos and 3Coms, which are putting more emphasis on low-end nets and are reluctant to concede anything to the chip maker.

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