Torus Systems Ltd of Cambridge has formed a consultancy unit in answer to a change in trend and customer demand in the local area networking market, which will handle local area networking over a wide geographical spread. Standardisation of IBM’s Token Ring and NetBios in 1986 is the key to the change, says Torus Systems’ managing director Steve Ives. We used to install local area networks of about four networked boxes for nave customers whereas now we are being asked by corporate customers, at management level, to install multiple local area networks of eight networked boxes over wide area distances. The consultancy, called Torus Information Networks Ltd, INL, will distribute bridging and gateway products from other companies and is due to announce a product from a UK company in the next few weeks to link Token Rings over wide are X25 networks as well as products from a US company. Torus INL is headed by technical director Peter Knook from Scicon and Ives has also taken on a technical man from CAP Group Plc. The unit hopes to have around 10 experts by the end of 1987 and estimates it will eventually account for about 10% of Torus Systems’ overall turnover, which it expects will be around UKP3m for 1986 with a small profit, which compares with pre-tax of UKP200,000 on sales of UKP1.8m in 1985. The new company will develop bespoke communications software and may in the future go direct for its network installation and maintenance support.
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