Aiming higher

D-Link Horstbox IP telephony appliance.

According to Associate Editor Maren Bennette D-Link is an IP networking company that is thinking big!

Not many people know that networking company D-Link is the world’s leading supplier of unmanaged LAN switches, the building blocks of consumer and SoHo networks. Moreover, they are second only to Cisco in the overall LAN switch market. Now the company has set its sights on the SME and Enterprise markets and it is starting from a position of strength… and has the

wherewithal to make it happen!

Many people would also be surprised to learn that the 21-year-old company has enjoyed annual double-digit revenue growth from the start and now has net sales of nearly $1.3 billion from operations in 100 countries worldwide. Not only does it manufacture the aforementioned LAN switches but also wireless, network security, storage and, lately, a range of IP telephony systems.

Whilst the bulk of its recent revenues come from the home networking and micro-business sectors, the Taiwan headquartered manufacturer also has a broad range of managed networking equipment which has propelled it to a leadership position in the SME & Enterprise sectors in emerging markets such as Russia and Africa. In order to emulate that success here in Europe they have hired a ‘heavyweight’ to head up the new Business Solutions operation.

Dave Smith, late of Swyx where he was senior VP of Marketing, has joined European President Kevin Wen’s management team with the remit to grow D-Link’s SME and Enterprise revenues. Based in the theatre headquarters in West London, Smith will be working alongside the UK & Ireland business team

Dave Smith, VP for Business Solutions, Europe.

including General Manager Chris Davies, Sales Manager Julian Hubble (late of 3Com) and Andrew Mulholland, who holds the Marketing Management portfolio.

Think Global, Act Local

Smith believes that D-Link has a unique advantage that will make their offerings attractive to channel partners and end-users alike. “We really believe in delivering what the customer wants at a local level,” he said, “So our local operating units have the remit to develop products and services that suit their markets.”

A good example of this is the Microsoft Response Point IP telephony system launched last year in the USA as the DVX 2000 and a similar product called ‘HorstBox’ that has been developed and released in Germany, based on core D-Link switching/wireless technology integrated with a localised Asterisk-based IPPBX solution. In the UK, a locally-developed video streaming solution (DSM-330) codeveloped with DivX is also winning rave reviews and will hit the European markets imminently.

“Local innovation based on a globalised technology platform is our key to differentiation from other more ‘rigid’ networking vendors,” says Smith. “We are working with our regional distribution and system integrator channel partners to see what their SMB and enterprise customers are asking for in the way of IP networking products. Once we know what is needed we have the flexibility to develop a product very quickly, with the quality manufacturing capability in Taiwan to produce it at a cost-effective price point. In the meantime, we will be further developing plans to enhance our channel offerings and support of the current business-class IP networking products. It’s a challenge I relish.”

Our Opinion:

Whilst it’s a crowded market-place for SME and Enterprise networking products with heavyweights such as Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, HP Procurve and Nortel to battle against, alongside D-Link’s ‘head-to-head’ competitors such as 3Com, NetGear and ZyXel, the Taiwanese company may have an edge with its ‘think global, act local’ approach. Too often products designed for the US have been thrust down our throats, often with a price premium and often without appropriate local support. If Dave Smith and D-Link execute well on their SME and Enterprise business strategy, just maybe the big boys on the block will need to look to their laurels. Time will tell.”