Fallen DBAM hits out at the UK government

UK tech start-ups aren't getting enough support, according to chief executive of WAN optimisation vendor

Arey: The UK has very talented people

DBAM Systems has claimed the UK government is failing in its duty to nurture UK tech start-ups, after filing for administration last week.

As revealed by CRN, the Wakefield-based WAN optimisation specialist is seeking new investment to help it continue trading, but has laid off its 25 staff.

Chief executive Paris Arey said DBAM’s technology stacked up well against the dominant US WAN optimisation players, but the firm was hamstrung by a lack of government support.

“There is a wider story about UK technology firms and their ability to get the right support and investment from the government,” said Arey, who was formerly UK country manager of Packeteer and before that a vice president at Cisco.

Arey urged the government to review the funding mechanisms available to tech start-ups so they are not “wholly reliant on angel investors”.

“The UK has very talented people who can produce technology like DBAM that can compete favourably with dominant US firms,” he added. “But you have different government policies here.”

Andy Wood of The P&A Partnership, who is joint administrator of DBAM, agreed: “As a country we are renowned for innovation but we do not see it through – as an insolvency practitioner I see this on a day-to-day basis. The support is not there, which encourages a brain drain.”

But Scott Dobson, managing director of Cloud Distribution, which distributes rival WAN optimisation vendor Expand Networks, was less sympathetic.

“DBAM must have known 12 months ago that it would run out of money and it did not sell enough,” he said. “It hired a lot of expensive people. You need money in the bank or a strong pipeline to do this and it had neither.”

Wood said that “several” interested parties had contacted him already with a view to purchasing DBAM or some of its assets.

“We are looking to do an early deal. We need to find buyers in a fairly short period so that purchases can protect the goodwill that has been developed by the company over a five-year trading period.”