Success in its native Hungary has prompted open source vendor Sense/Net to widen its reach to the UK, through new partner signings.

Sense/Net is set to launch its Portal Engine TNG, the enterprise-grade version of its open-source .NET-based portal builder, in UK on 1 October.

The vendor is aiming to recruit five to ten VARs and integrators in the next two years, and has targeted 50,000-60,000 downloads of its enterprise software offering.

Tamas Biro, co-founder of Sense/Net, said: “Partners are important to us, as our software cannot live without a VAR. Our partners add value to the templates we provide.

“We are looking for partners that may already be a Microsoft certified partner, that sell the same type of technologies and partners that are in public and government sectors.”

Biro added: “Those running on a .NET environment that want the flexibility and stability of an open source solution have not had much choice. Portal Engine is an alternative to Microsoft SharePoint and Java-based tools. Sense/Net is SharePoint is like a luxury car with 200 pedals. Our luxury car has three pedals and comes in an automatic.”

However Mark Taylor, chief executive of open source software reseller and consultancy firm Sirius Corporation said Sense/Net is not a vendor that would interest it.

“.NET is both a proprietary and an encumbered technology. We strongly recommend enterprises to avoid it entirely and seek genuine Open Source, unencumbered and free to use technologies instead.

“There are many 'alternatives' to Microsoft in the particular space Sense/Net are playing in, although admittedly few are based on .NET.”

Biro also revealed plans to open a UK office in the near future, depending on the vendor’s success in the market.

Last year Sense/Net achieved £3m a turnover and anticipates £4-5m this year.