Intransa From the Ashes, Viakoo
If not from the ashes, at least from the same building. We broke news a few weeks ago that Intransa's employees were laid off. While the company never publicly acknowledged the situation, there's no doubt that Intransa is no more. So what happened? Viakoo. We have further investigated, obtaining a company memo, analyzed herein.
What is Viakoo?
According to its website, Viakoo makes “advanced software” for monitoring video networks to “instantly spot problems in your video network infrastructure,” offered with a month-to-month subscription. The company says it will work with a client’s integrator to make sure video the system is working effectively and help fix it when it is not. It also provides “parts exchange agreements for Intransa-brand servers, storage, and VideoAppliance systems.”
Who is Viakoo?
We do not know for sure who's behind the company yet, but former Intransa president Rodgers (Bud) Broomhead set up the domain name Viakoo.com recently. Its physical address is the same as Instransa’s and so is its answering service.
Our messages to Intransa and their execs last month were never returned after it laid off its entire staff, but we left messages with the answering service anyway. For now, the answering service handles all of Viakoo’s calls. They take messages, but we are not expecting any calls to be returned. Calls to Intransa's old numbers now go to Viakoo Support Services.
Viakoo's Potential?
The strangest element of Viakoo's stated plan is that the market they are targeting is even harder than the one they just failed in. Remote surveillance health monitoring is not exactly a gold mine, as one of the few participants in the space recently acknowledged to us. While maintenance can be problematic for surveillance systems, most customers are reluctant to spend significant on services to monitor their systems. Plus, this typically requires VPNs or opening holes in firewalls, which can be done but further slows down / complicates the process.
UPDATE: Viakoo Selling Intransa Services
Intransa stockholders voted to place the company into receivership with Viakoo, according to a memo being sent to former Intransa customers. Receivership allows an entity to take over a failed business, either to 'fix it' or otherwise recoup losses. For Intransa customers, it unfortunately means existing support and warranty agreements are no longer valid. It also means there is no guarantee of hardware or software support for Intransa systems.
IPVM has obtained a copy of the memo, giving insight into the company's silent exit. The one-page document suggests it was produced for customers seeking Intransa support. Viakoo says it has purchased the source code for Intransa, and has 'several ex-Intransa engineers... who wrote it in the first place" if customers want to purchase support services from Viakoo.