CNBC-MARKET WATCH
SUMMARY: Tysdal comments on remote network management. Tysdal explains why NetSolve is based in Austin, Texas.
Consuelo: Our technology correspondent Renay san Miguel is in Texas this week for the "Power Lunch" heart of Texas tour. Texas has a big heart as you know. He joins us live from his home state for this morning's edition of "Tech 2000." He is joined by Craig Tysdal, president and CEO of NetSolve, which made its home in Austin. Good morning.
Renay San Miguel: Good morning, Consuelo. It's nice to be back at a state where people are speaking with normal accents for a change. But it is also a little bit cooler here. I think the cold air that has been beleaguering you folks up there is starting to make its way down here to Austin, Texas. But we are here for the "Power Lunch" tour. It is very appropriate location for Tech 2000 because of the big technology community building here for the last 20 or 30 years. But it's not just Dell and some of the other bigger names. There are some smaller public companies that are getting involved with the Internet infrastructure game. One of those is NetSolve Incorporated. Joining me live here from the steps of the state capitol, the president CEO of NetSolve, Inc. Thanks for joining us.
Thank you. I feel great to be here.
Renay: I'm glad to here that. Network management, remote network management, to me indicates that basically what you are doing is making sure the routers are routing all data to where it is supposed to go within a wide-area network or local area network and in a secure manner. I'm sure there is more to it than that. But is that pretty much the gist of what do you?
That's exactly it. We implement and operate networks for over 900 customers in 16,000 different locations and 30 plus countries around the world.
Renay: I know there are a lot of other companies out there, big and small, people from IBM on down who also want to do the same thing. If I'm a company needing my network managed, why NetSolve?
We are uniquely positioned to take care of a large unserviced market. There are about 40,000 U.S. Enterprises whose revenues range between 50 million dollars and 500 million dollars, and who don't want to necessarily outsource their network and give away a lot of things. They want to control business stability. NetSolve has a unique combination of services at the right price point to service customers.
Renay: You actually will let customers that you do business with buy the hardware and software. It seems to me that you are selling expertise and brainpower more than any kind of hardware or software.
That is exactly it. We in fact have three keys to our business. First, all of our tool set, which is very powerful and very scalable, which allows us to remotely manage these customer networks. The second thing is our expertise. Our people who are all concentrated right here in Austin. And the third thing really is the learning effect. We understand, learning from 900 customer networks, what it takes to get the job done with a high degree of quality and customer satisfaction.
Renay: I'm sure a big part of the customer satisfaction has to do with how good the security is that you provide. We all know what's going on. There seems to be some kind of new hacker incident being reported here and there. How tough is it to stay on the leading edge, to stay one step ahead, or maybe even more than one step ahead, of hackers or any kind of problems that may arise with network security?
I believe it is actually a job for professionals, which is where we come into play. I think it is really difficult for the ordinary company that is focused on a retail business or a financial business or distribution business to stay on that leading edge. That is our business, and that is the value we bring.
Renay: While we're showing a stock chart, what brought you to Austin? Why settle in here after you so many other companies are doing what you are in Silicon Valley and Silicon Alley in New York? why Texas?
I spent 15 years in the networking business in Silicon Valley, and I got here in September of 1993. I love it, the weather, the place. Let's talk business for a second. First of it all, it supplies us with an infrastructure we need, great universities, University of Texas, A&M, strong schools in Texas. All of the other infrastructure, Silicon Valley Bank, Imperial Bank, the bankers that cater to entrepreneurial enterprises along with legal infrastructure. It is all here. The entrepreneurial spirit is here and it feels like 1988, only without the high prices for homes and the traffic of Silicon Valley.
Renay: I got you there. The traffic is building up here in Austin too, only better Tex-Mex restaurants here than silicon.
No question, and you are going 10 years back. I went to work 7:15 and there weren't that many cars on the road. I mean it was 5:30 in the morning in the valley.
Bob: Exactly, good for you. Thank you for joining us Craig Tysdal, president and CEO of NetSolve, Inc.