THE FUTURE AS SEEN THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

Carriers have been sold on the function and utility of IP-based virtual private networks for some time now. In fact, over the last several years, the market has exploded with U.S. carriers alone racking up $2.2 billion in service revenue last year, according to a study by International Data Corp.

However, IP Dynamics, which has made its living selling VPN-related gear since 1999, thinks there's room for improvement. The company recently released its Your Portable Network (YPN) software suite that targets small and medium-sized businesses by providing a secure connection back to main servers regardless of location. Sound familiar? Sound like a VPN? That's because it largely is, but with a twist.

“Under the covers, it is a VPN, but we're not delivering a VPN,” said Mark Schaeffer, chief product officer. “We're positioning it as a way for people to access, collaborate and communicate, but it's a network.”

Offered through carrier channels, YPN is accessed through a Web portal but allows users to establish point-to-point connections with full VPN/IPsec security. In addition, the software encrypts data that is transmitted over that link, regardless of the application.

Not surprising, given the name, the company is playing up the ability for users to connect anywhere, including over a public Wi-Fi hotspot.

“It's actually more secure than a standard VPN because it's a point-to-point connection,” Schaeffer said.

This week, the company is announcing that PMG.net, Virterra Networks and Sulaf Solutions have signed on to offer the solution. Deutsche Telekom's T-Online broadband service also has been offering it for a few months.

For carriers, the suite consists of manager software and a server that hosts the Web site, allowing users to download the portable client and a switch.

“The carrier doesn't really have to do much to manage this beyond occasionally running a backup on the database,” Schaeffer said. “The biggest challenge in this service is the billing, but we were able to get T-Online up and running in a matter of months, and if you look at DT, they have a pretty enhanced billing system.”

The benefit to carriers is two-fold. First, it provides another application to enhance broadband services to the small and medium-sized business market. Second, it gives them an entry point into the VPN segment for smaller businesses and fills a hole in most carriers' product lineup.

According to Michael Suby, senior research analyst at Stratecast, the ability to allow small businesses to connect has been economically prohibitive in the past, and IP Dynamics is bridging that gap with its pricing.

Although final pricing of the service is determined by the service providers, IP Dynamics is expecting it to be in the range of $20 per month for two users.

One of the biggest selling points is expected to be the ability to allow others outside an organization, such as key suppliers, to have access via YPN, Schaeffer said.

“You can run any IP application,” he said. “There are a lot of good applications that are used in the small business, but there isn't a really good remote solution. One of the big ones is synchronizing documents. That's a major pain point right now.”