Danick Systems Inc, a privately funded systems integrator, has launched a modem sharing package, Pitchfork, which it hopes to carve a niche in the 7m strong small business market. Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts-based Danick reckons that only 1% of US small businesses use the Internet because of the proportionately high cost of access, both in hardware and in Internet service provider accounts. Its Pitchfork server is a bundle of a 33.6Kbps modem, an Intel i486-based personal computer, Ethernet card, and Linux-based server software developed by Danick, which shares access to the modem across Ethernet networks running Artisoft Inc’s Lantastic, Novell Inc’s Netware, or Windows 3.x, 95 or NT. Pitchfork can also act as a SMTP mail server, or as a proxy server for TCP/IP local area network requests to the Internet. Danick had an annual revenue of approximately $1m last year, and has plans to introduce Fax server software later in the year. The Pitchfork server is selling direct on the Internet for $2,400. The URL is http://www.jamaicaplain.com/dansys/index.htm
