Net-Defence Ltd helps keep the coffee flowing

Jan 22 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

A TECHNOLOGY company is looking to double its £2.5m turnover as it launches a product that can help companies bring an end to their IT woes.

Gateshead firm Net-Defence Limited has developed a programme which monitors company networks every five minutes, so that problems relating to software and hardware can be detected before any problems occur.

nLighten can even keep an eye on photocopiers, fax machines and even coffee machines as well as produce reports to allow staff to monitor how their equipment is performing.

Once nLighten has alerted the user to any potential problems, they can upload images of that network area onto their computer or laptop, as well as a graphical map of how the rest of the network is performing in second by second real time.

With nLighten's For Your Eyes Only Instant Alert, firms can also ensure that specific individuals receive alerts for particular problems, such as IT managers, who might only want to know if the email system is down, whereas technicians may want to know about disk space, memory usage, bandwidth availability, and anti-virus software.

The Team Valley-based firm, which was set up in 2006, believes the product will prove popular among firms looking to improve their productivity, particularly during the current economic downturn, and expects to double its turnover to £5m by next year as well as add 10 staff to its 40-strong workforce.

It has already tested the software at Sterling University in Scotland, where it also operates a second office, and uses the product to test over 60 networks at its campuses.

It is now in talks with a number of other companies, including clothing firm The Edinburgh Woollen Mill and plans to approach the Ministry of Defence over the coming months.

Business development manager Philip Pugh said: “This technology can save companies lots of time and money by alerting them to potential IT problems before they arise.

“We have been developing this technology for the last two years now and believe it will prove vital to firms that are concerned about poor productivity as a result of their IT systems.

“It will allow them to spend their money on improvements only where it is needed, which is important in light of current economic conditions.”