CASE CLOSED
Om Malik has a feature story in Business 2.0 about a stealth startup called Vyatta (means "Open" in Sanskrit), that's getting ready to compete in the telecom world with the likes of Cisco with an open-source enterprise-grade router. As Om explains it:
"Vyatta's router will cost about a fifth the price of comparable models from big networking equipment makers such as Cisco Systems..."
"Even as open-source software has ravaged the bottom lines of Microsoft, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems, Cisco and Juniper Networks continue to enjoy fat margins selling expensive gear running proprietary software.
But as corporate IT managers switch to open-source for operating systems (Linux), Web servers (Apache), and databases (MySQL), many are realizing that they spend an even bigger portion of their budgets on networking equipment: routers and switches to direct traffic, firewall devices to ensure security, and PBXs to run office phone systems..."
"The company plans to focus on routers for midsize U.S. businesses and the regional offices of global corporations. That segment is worth $4 billion and is heavily dominated by Cisco..."
"Vyatta’s first product, an enterprise class router that will compete with Cisco-medium to low end offerings is currently in beta testing with some customers is based on XORP or extensible open router platform and runs off on two Intel chips"
The new company, even though it's focused squarely on the enterprise hardware market, seems to have "Web 2.0" start-up DNA, sporting both a blog AND a wiki as it comes out of "stealth" mode.
Om has more detail on the start-up and the opportunity in his blog post, where he explains:
"The biggest interest in XORP and future Vyatta products will be in emerging economies like China and India, which are not cash rich, but have broadband ambitions. No one wants to pay for expensive commercial routers."
Of interest also in Om's article, were the reactions of Vyatta's incumbent competitors Cisco and Juniper:
"For now, telecom leaders don't seem threatened by the trend. "Open-source is not an issue in the networking market because networking is based on open standards," says Cisco spokesman Ron Piovesan.
Adds Juniper spokeswoman Karin Taylor, "We can support any open-source solution that is based on industry standards."
They're understandable and predictable responses, each one. But maybe customers should start to think of them as "Nimiilita", which of course in Sanskrit, means "Closed".
Comments