SnapGear Appoints CEO, Launches Product

March 7, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Virtual private network appliance manufacturer SnapGear Inc. (snapgear.com) made two separate announcements on Thursday, having appointed a new CEO, Rick Stevenson, as well as launched a new product, the SnapGear PRO+.

The appointment of Stevenson as CEO, says SnapGear, will take effect immediately. Prior to the appointment, he served as VP Engineering and CTO for the company, which he joined after leaving Lineo Inc., where he served as VP for integrated products and manager of the Australian engineering operation. Stevenson has also held senior roles with companies such as IBM, Stallion, DASCOM and Pyramid Technology.

Stevenson’s appointment coincided with the launch of the company’s newest VPN router appliance, the SnapGear PRO+. An addition to the company’s existing line of VPN router devices, the PRO+ includes an integrated V.90 modem and the ability to switch a client over in the case of ADSL and Cable access failure.

The SnapGear PRO+ has a 3DES capacity of 35Mbps and is optimized specifically for the PPPoE protocol used by ADSL. The device, built with European and American networks in mind, is capable of up to 18Mbps of throughput, and comes equipped with two 10/100 Ethernet interfaces to handle LAN and WAN traffic.

SnapGear says its PRO+ device includes a built-in PPTP client and server, allowing Windows users to connect remotely to the device without the use of third-party clients. The company says its products also allow for unlimited end-user licenses of the client software.

The broadband-to-narrowband fail-over function, says Snapgear, will be offered as a firmware upgrade to current owners of existing SnapGear VPN routers, which are all equipped with serial ports for connection to external modems. The PRO+ model, with the function built in, will being shipping in April 2002, priced at $849.

Stevenson, assuming the CEO position, takes over for Bob Waldie, who has stepped up to be Chairman of SnapGear. “Rick has my utmost confidence,” says Waldie. “This step up allows me more time to focus on our strategic relationships.”

"It's a pleasure to be handed the keys to a technology business that is thriving in the current difficult conditions,” says Stevenson. “I'm looking forward to growing our operation and continuing to develop products that compete successfully on a world scale."