Windmill Networks, a Huntsville, Ala.-based network management focused start up, wants to expand to Canada and is on the lookout for channel partners.
Before co-founding Windmill Networks almost two years ago, the company’s chief technology officer and acting CEO, Fred Gray, worked in Cisco Systems‘ (NASDAQ: CSCO) network management group on the engineering side for 10 years. Deciding it was time for a change, Gray went on to co-found Windmill Networks with his partner, Bill Boswell, the company’s vice-president of engineering.
Windmill Networks is a privately-funded company that went public three weeks ago, Gray said, so right now the company is actively searching for both channel partners and customers.
“We’re looking at doing business primarily in the Americas and Western Europe regions because those are the areas that have the largest (network performance management) problems,” Gray said. “In this early stage, we’re doing direct selling to gather some basic (sales). Today, we don’t do any business in Canada, but I hope to see that change within the quarter.”
Earlier this month, the company launched its Windmill Integration Manager (WIM) virtual appliance solution. The solution communicates with network management systems within a business’ infrastructure and works to gather data from those systems to compare and report on what differences and/or omissions there are.
From there, WIM will publish all of the missing data, which therefore removes the need for parallel data entry, Gray explains. WIM also synchronizes data between the existing network and management applications, which helps save time for repair during outages. The installation process only takes about two to three hours, Gray says, and either Windmill Networks or the partner can do the install, depending on the level of comfort.
Gray said Windmill Networks is currently in the process of recruiting a vice-president of sales and channel relations and says once that position is filled, his long-term goal is to flow 90 per cent of the company’s business through channel partners. Right now the company doesn’t have any channel partners and Gray said he doesn’t have a partner goal in mind but he does have a partner profile in mind.
“We want partners who are focused or knowledgeable in network management and who do business primarily with medium to large-sized enterprises,” Gray said.
As the company moves forward, Gray said Windmill Networks needs to increase its overall visibility and awareness in the market. He said Canada is the easiest international market to reach into first and said he intends to actively pursue the Canadian market through the channel.
“It’s not our intention to compete with the channel because we recognize partners are critically important to get to the customers we need,” he said. “We expect our relationship with our channel to be financially rewarding for them.”
For the partners who work with Windmill Networks, Gray said the company will provide all of the necessary training and background needed to be successful with the product and company.
Because the company doesn’t have a channel base or manager set up yet, Gray said it’s too early to discuss margin potential on its WIM product. However, he did say margins for the solution will be within industry averages.
WIM is not a competing product against Cisco’s CiscoWorks data management software solution, Gray said, but rather a complementary product that works well with it.
“CiscoWorks customers will be more successful with (WIM) and I expect … other network management vendors will realize they want their customers to have our product too,” he added.
