Aventail Sells Managed Services Division

With the acquisition, Netifice becomes the largest provider of managed SSL VPN services, a market that Aventail has dominated for years, industry analysts said.

Aldo, Netifice and Aventail signed a four-year agreement for Netifice to purchase Aventail SSL VPN appliances in support of growing the managed SSL VPN business.

The deal provides existing Aventail channel partners with a wider range of value-added service offerings and support, said Sarah Daniels, vice president of product marketing at Seattle-based Aventail,

"This will enable us to refocus our attention on appliances and away from services," she said. "We will have more capital at our disposal to put behind the things we do best."

Netifice will operate the managed SSL VPN services division as a separate business unit, maintaining 35 current Aventail managed services employees. Netifice also will retain the existing offices in Seattle for its managed services business.

Currently, Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Netifice builds other managed services such as IPSec around products from other vendors, such as Cisco Systems. Greg Davis, vice president of marketing and product management at Netifice, said the Aventail deal will strengthen the company's wholesale distribution capabilities even further.

"SSL VPN is the future of remote access," Davis said.