Net Integration Takes Aim At Microsoft With New Linux Play

The Ontario, Canada-based company, which sells exclusively through the channel, is also for the first-time offering software licensing terms that pit Nitix directly against Microsoft's software licensing model, said Dan Wensley, director of global channels for Net Integration.

Nitix licensing comes in 20 percent to 30 percent below Microsoft's competitive offerings, with Nitix margins running at about 20 percent, compared with single-digit margins for Microsoft's offerings, said Wensley. What's more, he said, the Nitix suite includes mySQL, e-mail services, a self-configuring and self-maintaining VPN, a firewall, and Internet connectivity and routing.

Net Integration is expected to formally make the announcement of the software-only offering at a partner meeting this week.

Greg Starr, the owner of See-Comm, a New Boston, Texas, solution provider that was already selling the Nitix turnkey solution, said the move is a watershed event that should dramatically increase the adoption of Nitix in the marketplace. "This is an incredibly stable alternative to Microsoft, particularly with all the security threats," he said.

Starr, who has customized the Nitix suite by doing a custom video surveillance/auditing application based on mySQL, said the ability to use mySQL also provides significant cost-savings. "We don't have to buy SQL when we are using Nitix," he said.

Starr said he is finding success with Nitix and is aiming to close a deal for 100 Nitix servers for a client that he said will save his customer $2,000 per server with a total savings of $200,000.

For the past seven years, Net Integration has offered Nitix as a turnkey integrated hardware and software solution that can be sold by VARs. Now, in addition to the turnkey offering, the Nitix operating system can be purchased separately and customized for third-party hardware products. Nitix also is releasing a compatibility and diagnostic CD that will enable VARs to assist clients in determining the compatibility of their existing hardware.