Montreal 6th, February 2004
NetWidget, Inc. announces NetWidget a Business Appliance for Small to Medium Business
NetWidget, Inc. today announced entry into the Business Appliance market though NetWidget. NetWidget Business Appliances are based on integrated best-of-breed Open Source software, are trivial to install and configure even by non-specialists, consume no power and are very competitively priced.
"We were looking to bring the economic advantages of Open Source to a wider business community - especially small to medium business and the SOHO market - where both initial and ongoing systems costs represent critical but expensive investments" said Ron Aitchison, President of ZyTrax, Inc. "This sector - which could benefit most from the cost advantages inherent in Open Source - has been historically unable to exploit the technology primarily because it was just too complicated. If you are in the business of something apparently as simple as selling flowers, today you need to be on the web, have email and probably a number of PCs and printers networked - what you don't have is a lot of knowledge about configuring DHCP!"
To create the NetWidget ZyTrax, Inc. analysed office system usage and developed a Meta model for typical office operations and the resulting functional requirements. Using this Meta model the company then selected best-of-breed software to satisfy the various functional requirements. That was the simple step.
"When we looked at the required knowledge to install and run this stuff it was, quite simply, shocking, - even for seasoned professionals like us" said Aitchison "If we were to realise our goal of creating an easy to use product we had to start thinking out-of-the-box."
ZYTRAX went back to the drawing board and analysed how individual packages worked, unnecessary duplication of information, integration of data sources, alternate data sources and abstraction of configuration information. Insights as simple as 'since DHCP gives out network addresses it can be the data source for network based archiving' to more complex examples such as 'by using a common LDAP base, data can be shared and complexity can be centralised and therefore contained' all played their part in grinding out complexity and inching NetWidget toward the holy grail of user-friendly Open Source! Every aspect of the sytem was examined - even whether to ask a question or not came under the searching spotlight.
"In a conventional system since there is normally a cost associated with, say, a web server it is important for the user to decide whether they need a web server or not" mused Aitchison "In a Appliance solution there is no cost penalty. We don't even ask if you need a web service - it's installed and defaulted, same for FTP and all the other packages. If you never use them that's OK. Perhaps one day you will."
To go with this new style approach the company also realised that it had to make some changes in the way it delivered its products and ongoing upgrade and support services.
"From day one we realised that the web would be an essential tool in delivering this product" said Sheri Salami one of the lead NetWidget developers "From delivering automatic or semi-automatic product updates and fixes to being able to run through the entire configuration process on-line before you decide to purchase, the web is a key component to delivery of total service."
ZYTRAX took an early decision to supply a complete product - hardware and software - to both reduce user complexity and to create a single point of contact for support. Appliance packaging did not escape the NetWidget designers attention. The NetWidget Appliance - in keeping with its user-friendly concept will not need to be opened - unlike a conventional PC or server. All necessary system access is provisioned externally. The closed nature of the design, coupled with the very low power requirement (around a 40 watt light bulb) allowed a lot of flexibility when it came to Appliance design and packaging.
"We gave our industrial designer a brief to make the product look as little as possible like a conventional PC" joked Abdel Medjoub who worked on the NetWidget hardware design "We believe the designer has come up with a practical and eye-catching design."
NetWidget products are slated to go to beta sites in March 2004, with initial product shipments expected in June 2004 or sooner. The web site is currently under development and will be updated continually during that time.
And why call it Netwidget. "Well I guess we all 'kinda' know what a widget is and what is does - everything" said Aitchison "A NetWidget is just the same but for networks and offices!".
ZyTrax, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in the historic district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The company specializes in IP networks, has been an Open Source user for many years, recently became FreeBSD converts and has been 'on-the-web' since the company started in 1994.
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