Welcome to Brand Alliance Insights!  This newsletter is brought to you by AGMA, the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit  Abatement. 

WHY AGMA? Guest Column by: QLogic's Roger J. Klein, VP & General Manager, Host Solutions Group   In 2005, QLogic discovered that incidents of counterfeiting and gray marketing were areas that the company needed to address - and quickly. At that time, we began an exploratory process to determine which industry organization could get us up to speed quickly on the issues and help the company in learning the "best practices" necessary to curb counterfeit and gray market activities. After auditing two AGMA member meetings and being impressed by the collective knowledge demonstrated and the caliber and content of member / speaker presentations, QLogic became an AGMA member.   Since 2005, we have come a long way in both our understanding of counterfeit and gray market activities and what we can do to mitigate them. Three key areas of AGMA membership that have proven to be especially helpful in determining our strategy have been: Direct information from the industry: Listening to the best practices of other AGMA members has helped us to draw parallels to our own issues - and model QLogic's activities after lessons learned. Indirect information from the industry: Technology and solutions providers often offer information in the form of thinly veiled sales pitches; government entities often have their own programs to promote: the key here is listening carefully and reading between the lines. Knowledge sharing with peers:   Networking is key - AGMA provides a fantastic opportunity to discuss the issues at hand with a diverse group of peers and form relationships with a common purpose and a collective industry responsibility. Going into 2008 - our 3rd year of membership, including a seat on the AGMA board, QLogic looks forward to sharing our own successes, best practices and case studies with other AGMA members.