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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (4107)	4/22/1999 10:35:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 12475

Redmond raider wants Siri Karya's killer app, but four-year-old ain't interested Bangalore start-up spurns Microsoft Deepak Kumar Bangalore The most vicious predator in the software jungle wants to get its paws around a Bangalore start-up. Microsoft is much impressed by Siri Karya Systems' NetSpy, an analyzer for NT proxy server logs, and has made a bid for it. Siri, however, isn't cowering ...or biting...not as yet. It was Microsoft's talent scouts in Seattle who made the first approaches, some time early this year. A few e-mails were exchanged, but Siri hasn't succumbed to the offer. Siri is being coy because "Microsoft doesn't want to market NetSpy-it wants to use it as a plug-in," said Oliver E Pais, the company's Vice President, Operations. That would kill any prospects of selling it independently, Pais explained. "It is very difficult to read into MS strategy. We were apprehensive," Pais added. That was after hearing stories of other companies' experiences with Microsoft. The Redmond raider is notorious for buying out products, killing any hopes of an independent future. It also has a reputation of constantly "changing focus" and gradually easing out the bright-eyed start-ups who give it the ideas, and "we didn't want to fall into such a trap. The decision was purely internal," Pais said. "We haven't completely dropped it. If MS does pursue it, and we decide to deal, it would be on our terms," said Dilip Paniker, President of Siri. Siri had initially developed NetSpy for its own internal requirements. It turned out to be such a killer app that when the company decided to put it up for free downloads at Tucows, it scored over a 100,000 downloads, and got a rating of 4.5 cows (Tucows' highest rating is 5 cows). That's a potential cash cow- the nearest tool to NetSpy is WebTrends, priced at a cool $1,000. Microsoft's interest is not surprising. The product has been a hit at download sites, and has an enviable fan- following. Another download site, Beyond, has even offered to market NetSpy for Siri. NetSpy is also listed on NT Ware, another download site for Windows NT-based software. "We received 200 mails of appreciation last month. One user said he found the product so useful that he wanted to pay for it. He wants to know how to pay, and said anything below $500 would be fine. That too for an inferior version than our current one," boasted Srikanth Manchikanti, the company's CEO. All that attention hasn't escaped Siri. Now the company has developed version 3 and is planning to bundle related products into an enhanced suite. It's now working on marketing it independently, with some help from Chestnut Bank. The bank will help Siri's recently set-up US subsidiary to process payments for on-line orders. Those mails have also helped Paniker and gang decide on the pricing. The company is currently working out the logistics and pricing. "By July, people should be able to pay upfront and buy," said Pais. Siri's basket of goodies NetSpy: Log analysis tool to analyze log files created by MS Proxy Server. Generates easy to understand reports that reveal critical statistical and user related info. Useful for Systems Administrators to monitor employee Net activity SKS Informer:32 bit e-mail checking utility that runs in the background and notifies the user when he gets new mail. Runs with Netscape, MS Exchange and Eudora Enhaced Ping: Lets you ping multiple destinations expressindia.com