Spotlight

NetScaler’s pursuit of excellence

NetScaler Inc’s growth has been pretty impressive, and now that it is on the verge of being acquired by Citrix Systems, the company is looking forward to a significant amount of synergy between the two teams, says Abhinav Singh

What began as a research and development effort has now grown into a healthy market opportunity for NetScaler Inc in India. The company boasts of half a dozen customers which include Vincity AQ, State Bank of India (SBI Online), Cricinfo, LIC, rediff.com and Patni Computer Systems. The company’s Indian R&D efforts have contributed to its global product development efforts since most of the software development for its application acceleration and optimisation products (NetScaler’s 9000 series) is done out of its Bangalore centre. The centre also provides technical support for the company’s global customers. From 20 employees to 65—all high-end engineers—NetScaler’s growth has been rapid.

Recently, the acquisition of NetScaler by Citrix Systems was announced. The deal is valued at approximately $300 million in cash and stock, plus the assumption of about $23 million in unvested stock options. It is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005, subject to customary closing conditions including shareholder and regulatory approvals. However, NetScaler will continue to operate with its headquarters in San Jose, California, as the application networking group, and will be led by B V Jagadeesh reporting to Citrix CEO, Mark Templeton.

Accelerating applications

NetScaler sees potential in India for its range of application-enhancing products—the 9000 series. Says Rakesh Singh, General Manager, Asia Operations, NetScaler, “Most of our customer wins in India have been with regard to application-acceleration products because there has been a proliferation of Web-based applications, the Internet and intranet. As broadband penetration is low in India, we see a lot of opportunity in the application-acceleration field.” Many of the customers choose the NetScaler 9000 series to ensure remote connectivity over long distances.

Betting big on SSL VPN

NetScaler is betting big on its SSL VPN technology, and hopes that customers in India with global operations will embrace this technology. According to Singh, “The diversity and number of remote users in an organisation is exploding. Devices such as notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones are being increasingly getting connected to the corporate network, which needs to be secured. This is where SSL VPN technology is handy.” NetScaler has bagged its first customer in the SSL VPN space from a manufacturing company. Globally, NetScaler has many customers in the SSL VPN space, but that momentum is yet to be witnessed in India. Singh adds, “Indian companies are evincing interest in SSL VPN technology.”

Channel to drive customer acquisition

The company had adopted a channel strategy to gain customers in India. Currently, Apara Enterprise Solutions, Satyam and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are its channel partners in India. The channels are playing an important role in customer acquisition—NetScaler recently bagged LIC through TCS and Satyam brought in the SBI account. The rediff.com account, its first customer in India, was closed directly by the company. Being part of a larger entity, Citrix Systems, NetScaler will have access to a large number of Citrix channel partners.

As broadband penetration is low in India, we see a lot of opportunity in the application- acceleration field Rakesh Singh General Manager Asia Operations NetScaler

Customers enrich development

Although the company’s focus has been on development, it also needed to expand its customer list. Singh explains, “Our development teams wanted proximity to the customers, which could be had only when we acquired some customers in India. If our developers here talked to our customers here and paid a physical visit to their site, it would have been a much more enriching experience than, say, talking to our customers in the US.” The company’s development centre in India supports its Indian customers.

A hard road

The road to excellence for NetScaler has not been easy. Notes Singh, “Finding the right talent for product development is difficult. We look for high-end engineering talent. However, once people come onboard, they do not quit as we have low attrition levels.” The company has been recruiting people on an incremental basis, and has never been on an aggressive hiring spree. From a market perspective, NetScaler has been bullish about the increasing adoption of Web technology at the enterprise level, especially by BFSI, manufacturing, Internet and BPO companies. It points out that nowadays even some traditional enterprises have been adopting Web-based technology.

Part of a larger organisation

Now that NetScaler is being acquired by Citrix Systems, what it brings to the table for the latter is interesting. Although premature to highlight the concrete plans of NetScaler in India, post the Citrix’s acquisition Singh says, “A significant amount of synergy is expected between our team and the Citrix development team, especially in the application enhancement space. Citrix has a strong marketing presence in India, and we would be leveraging that factor.” NetScaler products will extend the Citrix access platform and provide a range of application networking solutions. It is expected that the combined teams of the two companies will be a powerful force in providing infrastructure for intelligently controlling access to and delivery of any application or resource based on the end-user’s scenario. Further, it is expected that the demand for NetScaler products will grow significantly as it will leverage the power of Citrix’s 5,000-plus resellers in over 100 countries.

abhinav@expresscomputeronline.com