* AEP/Netilla merger points to SSL remote access industry shakeup
AEP Systems merged with Netilla at the end of last year, signaling a new phase in the SSL remote access market – the rapid weeding out of vendors that just don’t have what it takes to survive.
Not that the new company, named AEP Networks, won’t survive, but the marriage acknowledges a fact of life in technology: the glut of companies that are spawned by a new idea has to be trimmed back to a number that real-world demand can support.
AEP and Netilla recognized they had shortcomings in the breadth of their product lines and in their ability to sell in more geographic markets. As a merged entity, AEP Networks boasts a global sales force and complimentary customer.
AEP Networks also has plans to buy more companies, as a means to gain customers in markets it wants to reach. AEP says such an acquisition is likely to win customers in the U.S. government.
Technologically, AEP executives recognize they need to add new security functions, such as application-layer firewalling, in order to keep up with better-funded competition.
This game plan makes enough sense to venture capitalists for them to advance another $5 million to AEP, which says it can turn profitable by year-end.
This merger points out that there are start-ups in this area that may have good products but for one reason or another haven’t started making a lot of money yet, and time is running out for them. Investors are unlikely to gamble more on them, particularly as more successful competitors, including deep-pocketed networking companies, grab more and more customers.
For those in the market for SSL VPN gear this means doing a financial analysis of the vendors under consideration to make sure the company chosen has the resources to be around to support its gear in a year or two. This has always been true, but is more important now when it is more likely that some of these vendors will be closing shop.
