Perth network security vendor rebrands, signs with Rhipe

Perth-based network security vendor iWebgate has restructured the company, renaming to NetLinkz, and promises to focus 100 percent on the channel.

Part of this restructure had executive chairman James Tsiolis step into the chief executive role temporarily after chief executive and co-founder Tim Gooch became the director of innovation and business development.

The company's restructure saw "substantial" cost savings, according to the NetLinkz financial report filed with the ASX.

Suthan Naganayagam, former SAP director of ecosystem and alliance for HANA cloud platform and mobile solutions, has been appointed NetLinkz chief executive.

Naganayagam has more than 15 years of industry experience. He led the launch and development of the SAP HANA cloud platform ecosystem. He joined SAP in 2010 and has worked closely with SAP's channel.

According to the financial results filed with ASX, the company closed last financial year at a $9.9 million loss. The document states a total revenue of $1.1 million, although Naganayagam said the company never got to $1 million revenue.

The chief executive was not specific about the number of redundancies made during the restructure, saying only that it had to "focus on development and practice". The company's offices in the US and UK were both closed but Naganayagam said the company was still present in the region.

Naganayagam told CRN that "like many developers, the founders focused a lot on the product but didn't focus on taking it to market". He comes on board planning to change the company's go-to-market strategy by focusing on the channel.

According to the Australian provider, its software defined wide area network (SD-WAN) patented technology can benefit both OEM partners and cloud solution providers.

He said the company expected to build a framework in Australia and then take it to New Zealand, across Asia, the US and Europe.

The company has Leader Technologies as a distributor with a focus on the rural areas of Australia. Netlinkz has also just signed a distribution agreement with cloud distributor Rhipe.

NetLinkz also has a partnership with Telstra, through which the vendor just secured three new clients.

In April 2016, NetLinkz signed a reseller agreement with US-based government solutions provider Blue Tech.

NetLinkz was founded in 2004 by Tim Gooch and Charlie Gargett.