Level 5 seeks a channel for its European debut

Vendor aims to build market share for network interface cards on the back of Intel's reach

US-based network interface card (NIC) vendor Level 5 Networks is launching in Europe and is looking to set up a channel.

The company, whose Ethernet-based cards aim to boost the output of Intel chips, hopes to benefit from Intel’s market reach. Dan Karr, chief executive of Level 5 Networks, said Europe can be a significant market and that the channel will become an essential tool in gaining market share.

“We will be establishing a channel programme and forming channel relationships. We will be announcing new partners over the next couple of months. It will be a continuous recruitment process,” he said

Level 5 is looking to recruit channel partners with a broad customer base and said resellers will have the opportunity to provide updates and additional support.

Karr predicted the NIC market will grow in Europe despite vendor heavyweights aiming to deliver performance without the need for add-ons.

Bob Schiff, vice-president of product marketing at vendor Foundry Networks, which partners with Level 5, agreed there could be demand for NIC. “Ethernet is becoming the interconnect of choice for a new generation of high-performance networks,” he said.

However, John Watson, business manager at Intel NIC reseller Intellect Computers, said: “We sell very few separate NIC cards. I’d be surprised to see a vendor profit from this area.”

Watson added that Level 5 faces competition from rivals such as Intel, D-Link and Netgear.

However, Keith Humphreys, managing consultant at EuroLAN, said the firm is a good fit for the European market. “There is no direct competition as Level 5 is creating a new type of NIC which will offload some of the process pressure for servers,” he said.