With the purchase of Groove by Microsoft last week, everyone's taking collaboration software seriously. One company, successful elsewhere, is just launching in the U.S. and is seeking large ISPs with business customers.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [March 17, 2005]

San Jose, Calif.-based IP Dynamics was founded in 1999 and has offices in Beijing, Paris, and Seoul. Its collaboration software, Your Portable Network, has just been made available to ISPs in the U.S.

"We originally targeted enterprise customers, but when we received an RFP from T-Online [the ISP arm of Germany's ILEC], we adapted it to the ISP market in Europe. Then we decided, 'hey, let's bring this over to the U.S.,'" admits Mark Schaeffer, IP Dynamics Chief Product Officer (CPO). Schaffer's last job was director of consumer marketing at Cingular Wireless.

Developed by the company's founder, Dr. Hasan S. Alkhatib, the software is an ad hoc peer to peer (P2P) network that connects business users through IPSEC VPNs.

The software requires two pieces of hardware on the service provider's network, a Portable Network Manager and a Portable Network Switch. A client application is downloaded, but requires no configuration or administration, Schaeffer says.

The ISP part of the infrastructure tracks where people are and whether they are logged on, so that end user can, for example, contact a name like "Carol" instead of typing in an address and reach her laptop while she's on the road and her desktop if she's in the office or her home if she's logged into the company network from home. Users can also see when she's not available.

The key benefit of Your Portable Network over similar applications like Groove and GoToMyPC is that it's an open network, Schaeffer says.

"Groove, for example, is proprietary, so you need to make changes to it to run each new application. We're open. Any application that runs on a network will also run on Your Portable Network, whether it's an accounting app, VoIP, developer software, or even a health care app," he adds.

Announced ISP customers in North America include ILECs like SBC and Bell Canada as well as business focused managed service providers like Atlanta, Ga.-based PMG.net, Santa Clara-based Virterra Networks, and Burlingame, Calif.-based Sulaf Solutions.

Pricing and availability
Your Portable Network is available now as a hosted solution or for installation in the ISP's network. The purchase price is $20,000 to $40,000 for equipment and billing integration plus a $100 per seat per year license. The hosted solution eliminates the equipment and integration fee, but raises the per seat license to about $110 per year.

A free trial account is available through Virterra Networks here.

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