Network management start-up VitalSigns Software Inc has launched its second set of products since its formation, 14 months ago, and signed up Network Associates Inc, the merged company of McAfee Associates Inc and Network General Co, as a first licensee. VitalHelp is a real-time fault monitoring and remote diagnostics tool for help desks, and VitalAnalysis provides network managers with quality of service information, both polling the data from user’s desktops. The tools are said to be the first internet or intranet based network management products to manage performance issues from an end user perspective. The launch also marks a change in distribution strategy. With its first product, the browser-based performance monitoring tool NetMedic, VitalSigns adopted a shareware-like distribution model, sending out rudimentary free copies to end-users over the Internet, and licensing software companies wishing to integrate it within server-based products. Up to one million clients were sent out, with around half of them licensed at a fee of $50, according to VitalSigns. This time it will be selling the products directly to corporate users, and charging for client and server software bundles. The new server products use HTTP to monitor installed Net.Medic client software, calculating information about the whole network from IP packet analysis and feeding it back to the server. VitalHelp then monitors performance of the client software in real time, while VitalAnalysis records and analyzes historical network data. The products connect up to full scale network management tools such as Hewlett-Packard Co’s OpenView via the SNMP simple network management protocol. Santa Clara, California-based VitalSigns has gone through one round of venture funding, worth $5.6m, but says it’s unlikely to need more, having doubled it first year revenue estimates already, with over half a year still to come. It has won high-profile bundling deals for NetMedic with 3Com Corp and Netscape Communications Corp (CI No 3,255), and claims to be one step ahead of its rival, Jyra Research Inc, which it says is relying on Java technology too immature for network management uses. The VitalAnalysis software, for Unix and NT servers, is shipping immediately with 100 Net.Medic clients for $13,500. VitalHelp will ship in December for approximately the same price.
