Santa Clara, California-based start-up VitalSigns Inc has won another high profile licensee for its network performance monitoring tool, Net.Medic, in the shape of 3Com Corp. 3Com says it plans to bundle the Net.Medic product with its new US Robotics x2 56Kbps modems. The NetMedic software, serving as a modem control panel, monitors the condition of an internet connection, tracking such elements as real-time activity, connection speeds, instantaneous transfer rates, compression rates and error tracking. When modem faults and insufficient capacity of internet service providers cause bottlenecks in dial-up calls, the software identifies the origin of the problems, and fixes them where possible. Founded only a year ago, VitalSigns secured $5.6m in its initial round of funding in May 1997, from Sequoia Capital and Austin Ventures. Since then it has announced a series of bundling deals, including network management firm Network General Corp, PC and memory performance enhancement company TechWorks Inc, internet service provider Earthlink Network, and most recently, Netscape Communications Corp, which is bundling the product in with the deluxe edition of its Communicator product. The tool, currently aimed at end-users, is also available as a browser companion direct from VitalSigns. The company promises future versions aimed at chief information officers and IT professionals, in a move that could bring it into competition with fellow internet start-up Jyra Reseach Inc (CI No 3,173).
