Netilla Solution Right Up Web Trainer's Alley

But when WestLake, an Arlington, Va.-based Web development training firm, hired StarCare Systems, a solution provider based here, the scope of the assignment broadened after the client got a spontaneous demo of another product's capabilities.

With a few minutes to kill before a meeting between StarCare and WestLake, StarCare executives showed employees of the training company how GoldMine could be accessed rapidly and securely over the Web using a platform from Netilla Networks. The Somerset, N.J.-based vendor's products provide secure browser-based access to applications running on a corporate network.

Matthew Prentice, director of information systems at WestLake, said he liked what he saw. "We stumbled into the Netilla thing," he said.

"We thought we wanted to do something with [Symantec's pcAnywhere, but you have to open up holes in your firewall, load it on each workstation and have a special client on the remote end," he said. "All those headaches weren't there with Netilla. It's all downloaded when you run [Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator."

Joe Cameron, a partner at StarCare, contrasted the full-licensed version of GoldMine with the version users run on their browsers. "Like many CRM products, GoldMine has a Web client, but it's not the full solution," he said. "When we enable [GoldMine access through Netilla, there's no [special training; it's exactly the same as using the client on the desktop. Plus, Netilla is doing screen scrapes [GUIs added to character-based mainframe applications, which makes the system incredibly fast."

What's more, Netilla works very well with software other than GoldMine,Microsoft Great Plains and Saba Software, for example, Cameron said. And Netilla has no direct-sales force, relying exclusively on partners such as StarCare.

"We are 100 percent focused on sales through the channel," said Reggie Best, Netilla's founder, president and CEO. "You don't find many start-ups doing all [sales through the channel. [Investment bankers say to us, 'Why aren't you selling direct?' But a lot of them don't have channel backgrounds, and they don't always understand [the concept of leverage."

Netilla's channel-only sales strategy is modeled on programs that Best encountered during his tenure as a vice president at networking vendor 3Com, he said. Netilla's resellers can earn 30 percent margins on sales of the vendor's product, Best added.

StarCare, which got its start in 1985 developing CRM applications for Mercedes-Benz dealers, is a six-person solution provider that focuses on sales-force automation and CRM application development, Cameron said.

"We work in several verticals," he said, citing the financial and automotive industries as examples. "Because of what we do, it tends to bring other things to the table, such as Web-site [creation and custom solutions." For those projects, StarCare brings in sister company Commerce Designs International, which develops bilingual e-commerce solutions, among others.

WestLake's experience with Netilla's technology, which is available on a license or subscription basis, has been so positive that WestLake is considering expanding its course offerings, Prentice said. The company would like to be able to offer its students access to DreamWeaver, ColdFusion and other tools they use to learn Web site development.

Yet there are a number of issues tied to delivering training to a widely dispersed user base, Prentice said. WestLake hopes to iron those out and launch a distance-learning application this summer.