AirMagnet attracted to UK wireless market

The wireless security and management market in the UK has become even more crowded with the arrival of vendor AirMagnet.

The US firm joins a number of wireless players in the UK, including Trapeze, Bluesocket and ReefEdge, as well as established networking vendors such as Cisco, Extreme Networks and Foundry.

All are trying to convince corporate customers that wireless networking is worth the investment, although many firms are wary because of management and security concerns, as well as constantly shifting standards and technologies.

"Foundry, Extreme and Cisco are OEM customers of ours," said Rich Mironov, vice president of marketing at AirMagnet.

"We are looking for partners with corporate expertise, which already have service offerings and complementary products."

AirMagnet and its first UK channel partner, Global Secure Systems (GSS), have already installed the vendor's wireless, security and management system into music retailer HMV. GSS's sister company, Ellipse, will act as distributor for the product.

"Both firms sell off the same database," said Kate Vidgeon, marketing manager at GSS and Ellipse. "But GSS's end-user sales team walk away from anything Ellipse VARs are involved in."

Miranov said his company has no plans to sign more distributors in the UK. Through Ellipse, Miranov said he plans to target the channels of Vernier, Cisco and Bluesocket.