It takes guts to launch a new company in an industry buckling under massive debt and skyrocketing operational costs. But with $25 million in funding and 15 patents pending, Intelliden did just that. The software developer offers what it says is an industry first: an element management suite that lets service providers automatically configure their routers and LAN switches.

The Intelliden R-Series — which includes the R10 and R30 — is designed to eliminate human error by removing the manual configuration tasks associated with managing routers and LAN switches.

“[Carriers] are paying network engineers to manually configure devices one at a time, which adds complexity and cost to the network,” said Dale Hecht, president and CEO of Intelliden. “We're trying to take some of the complexity away and through a Web-based interface, pull the interface on a directory and change it.”

According to Hecht, for every dollar spent on a router or a switch, a service provider can spend up to four times that amount to manage it. “That's a lot of cash, considering service providers are investing millions on switches and routers,” he said.

Designed as a point-and-click solution, the R-Series software runs on a Sun Microsystems server to interface with the network elements. Both versions of the R-Series feature GUI interfaces, though the R30 lets a service provider also use its own application programming interface.

The R-Series supports only Juniper Networks and Cisco Systems routers and LAN switches, which may not seem a large enough target to start a business. But according to Hecht, those two vendors target 91% of the router market and 70% of the LAN switch market. Did we mention this company is gutsy?
Amalia D. Parthenios
www.intelliden.com