Times are changing for the
better at Mangosoft Corporation (OTC BB: MGOF), a developer of Web caching software.
The firm just inked a contract with Intel whereby the local firm's CacheLink
software product will be available to some of the giant chipmaker's customers.
The market seems to like the latest deal with Intel. Shares of the firm
closed Monday at $23.00, up $4.75 or 26 percent. The high for 52 weeks is $28,
the low $2.25.
To date, product sales have provided a minor source of revenues. From its
inception in 1995 through September 30, 1999, Mangosoft generated $400,000 in
sales and incurred cumulative net losses of $41.5 million.
In the midst of a financial and organization turnaround, the firm has
recently announced agreements with Ramp Networks and US Online, and now Intel.
The CacheLink product will be available to customers of the Intel InBusiness Internet Station 56K product.
Caching is an application that "stores" data after computer users download
from the Web. Mangosoft's CacheLink stores frequently viewed Web pages,
allowing them to be accessed by all PCs connected to a local area network (LAN).
The firm claims that CacheLink delivers Web cache hits, on average, 40 times
faster than a non-cached 56K shared-modem. Explains CEO Dale Vincent,
"CacheLink complements the browser cache in every PC by linking them together in one
cache pool for all PCs. The more systems on a LAN using CacheLink, the larger and more
effective the cache becomes, as it scales to every PC connected to the LAN".
The firm's chief competitors are dedicated cache appliance providers such as
Novell or Network Appliance. However, Mangosoft claims the price range for
these is much higher (by thousands of dollars, the firm says). Proxy servers such as Compaq's
NeoServer are also competitors, but these are also very expensive, says Mangosoft.
Vincent says that the firm is currently meeting with investors for a new
round of funding for an Internet storage application service it will launch
this spring.
He describes Mangosoft's current business strategy as a "reconfiguration of
the company from a very strong engineering and technology company to a very
strong marketing and sales-driven company".
He told dbusiness.com that the turning point came September 7 last year when
MangoMerger, a wholly owned subsidiary of First American, a cash-rich shell
company, merged with and into Mangosoft.
In conjunction with this merger, First American changed its name to
Mangosoft, Inc. which is the legal acquirer and surviving legal entity.
The reorganization included changing the sales distribution channel from a
retail approach to value added resellers, consolidating corporate functions and
reducing total personnel. The firm's software is now available on the Internet via download.
As to the future, Vincent commented, "We have a very strong engineering
background here but that was part of the problem in the past. There was good
engineering but there were not enough marketing skills. Since coming on board in recent
times I have been addressing those issues".
