Tantau looks to target Europe in internet initiative

Former Compaq subsidiary Tantau Software has launched in Europe, to crack the burgeoning internet-enabled applications market.

Tantau, which was spun off from Compaq's Tandem research centre in April with the backing of $11m in venture capital, is targeting Vars, OEMs, systems integrators and distributors across Europe to sell its range of products.

Peter Robinson, managing director of Tantau Europe, told PC Dealer that channel sales would constitute a significant proportion of the company's total revenue.

Robinson said: "We have an active direct sales force in the UK that will work with any partners we sign, but in some geographies we will rely totally on the channel to establish a market for us."

Tantau, in which Compaq has retained an eight per cent stake, has already signed a number of Vars in the UK and Germany, including European telecoms service provider Infitel. Benefits to partners will be negotiated on an individual basis, depending on the support offered, said Robinson.

John Sims, chief executive of Tantau, insisted that the company would be developing its internet applications business to try and double its revenue next year from the $9m it recorded this year.

"Growth will come from the internet companies. Amazon.com, for example, has had problems with scalability. While this market won't bring huge revenue for the company at first but it will in the future," said Sims.

Tantau will sell its full range of web-enabled NT and Unix-based applications through all of its channel partners, as well via its data analysis engine Infocharger, which Tantau claims processes faster than existing database management systems from rival vendors.