InformationWeek

Open Reach is aiming its services at businesses that have 10 to 2,500 employees who work from more than one location, such as branch or home offices. Open Reach officials say the service provides businesses with a common, secure IP-based network that can be accessed via a Web browser by authorized users, regardless of what type of access technology or Internet service provider they use. A business can use the network as both an intranet and an extranet for business-to-business functions on the Web.

To gain access to the network, an employee or business partner installs the Linux-based software on a PC or Mac connected to the LAN. Open Reach hosts the network and secures it using digital certificate technology. Through its Network Operations Center, Open Reach will provide services such as around-the-clock network reporting and monitoring, customer support, backup and recovery, and automated software distribution.

Polaris Venture Partners of Boston, which includes Allaire Corp. and Akamai Technologies Inc. among its funding recipients, provided Open Reach with $15 million in funding. Says Open Reach chairman and CEO Mark Tuomenoksa, "Businesses can use the service to run whole corporate structures over the Internet." Before starting Open Reach, Tuomenoksa served as chief technology officer and VP at Shiva Corp., which was acquired by Intel in 1998. He says Open Reach is investing millions of dollars in its network operations facilities.

Charles Rutstein, senior analyst at Forrester Research, says Open Reach's offering appears to be credible. "It's a very attractive value proposition to midsize companies that have several branch offices and multiple full-time business partners they need to link to securely via the Web," he says.