Expand Networks To Buy Disksites
A privately held firm in Potomac, Md., DiskSites sells Wide Area File Services (WAFS) technology used in branch office server consolidation solutions. WAFS technology uses local caching to speed the performance of applications delivered to remote users from centralized servers over the WAN.
The most immediate benefit Expand channel partners will see from the union will be the elimination of OEM costs, enabling Expand to launch a low-cost SMB WAFS offering for $2,750 soon after the acquisition, said Amir Chitayat, president of Expand, Roseland, N.J.
“As a result, our partners will be able to target small branch offices with one, two, three employees in areas such as retail and insurance, where [a WAFS offering] needs to be priced below $3,000,” Chitayat said.
The WAN optimization umbrella covers bandwidth monitoring and management, protocol acceleration, WAFS, quality of service, compression and caching. Vendors are scrambling to integrate more of these pieces into their products through internal development, partnerships and acquisitions.
Just last week, Expand rival Packeteer, Cupertino, Calif., disclosed its intention to pay $78 million for Tacit Networks, South Plainfield, N.J., a WAFS vendor it has been working with since September.
Customers’ need for broad WAN optimization solutions is growing as they seek to increase their use of remote workers, cut costs and comply with regulations, integrators said.
“They’re looking for LAN-like performance over the WAN,” said Bob Beler, president of Information Systems Group, a Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based solution provider that works with Packeteer and Tacit.
Expand and DiskSites have been partnering since their OEM deal in August 2005 under which Expand has incorporated DiskSites code to add WAFS capabilities to its Compass WAN optimization appliances.
Financial terms of the acquisition, expected to close within 30 to 60 days, were not disclosed.
DiskSites has just begun building its indirect sales strategy and does not yet have any U.S. channel partners, Chitayat said.