Shiva offers VPN suite

Shiva (SHVA) is betting on the growing need to reduce costs via the use of low-priced secure remote connection technology.

The remote access specialist will roll out a new suite next week geared toward organizations that want to provide secure connections from remote locations to users and partners without expensive leased lines.

The virtual private network (VPN) technology consists of a collection of security and authentication protocols that allow a remote user to set up a secure "tunnel" from their location to headquarters that can be used for data transfers.

In rolling out the toolset, Shiva is showing off the fruits of its recent acquisition of Isolation Systems for $37.5 million. Included in the software and hardware package is the LanRover VPN Gateway, the VPN Client, a Certificate Authority, and a VPN Manager.

The acquired technology is part Shiva's focus on providing VPN technology to businesses with 25 to 2,500 users, according to Mark Tuomenoksa, vice president of marketing at Shiva.

Numerous analysts have said the market for VPNs is ready to explode. A recent report from Infonetics Research predicts the market for VPN-related products will reach nearly $1.2 billion by the year 2001.

Shiva executives said they hope to take their installed base of remote access equipment and add more sophisticated services such as VPN capabilities to it by dropping in a new piece of equipment and accompanying software. The new VPN suite is available now with prices for the gateway starting at $9,250.