Three internationally recognized experts join Spanish open source project eBox Platform prior to its commercial launch
Stephen R. Walli – former vice-president of Open Source Development Strategy at Optaros and business development manager in the Windows Platform team at Microsoft –, Mikko Puhakka – researcher of Open Source/IT Business models at Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) and seed investor into MySQL in 2001 – and Timo Teimonen – ex vice president of Nokia and Head of Nokia Ventures – join the board of directors of eBox Platform prior to its commercial launch.
eBox Platform is an open source project developed during the last three years by Warp Networks , a Spanish open source consultancy, with the objective of creating a user-friendly server for corporate networks. The project is about to reach its first stable version in October 2007 and Warp Networks is now preparing the launch of commercial services with the incorporation of the above mentioned international experts in start-ups and in the development of sustainable business models on open source products.
“I have long experience with enterprise market while I was working in IBM but even more experience in defining new global business opportunities while running Nokia Ventures Organization. Warp Networks with its eBox Platform seems to combine these both and even with a solid market performance” said Timo Teimonen. “I’m excited in working with top tier open source project that has a competent team and clear position in enterprise market.”
“To me start-ups, having worked with them since early nineties, are all about entrepreneurs, and as Ignacio is one of the most impressive Open Source Business CEOs I have come across joining the board on his invite was a very easy decision” stated Mikko Puhakka. “eBox has all the elements of becoming a major factor in the software and open source business.”
Among other services, eBox Platform provides access to the Internet, network security, integrated email server with antivirus and antispam, resource sharing or groupware communication for corporate networks. The platform is designed by merging the simplicity of network appliances with the flexibility offered with Linux servers. At the moment the project has more than 40,000 downloads and a fast-growing community of developers and users behind. Since June 2007 eBox Platform is being ported to Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution, and it is a good candidate to become the default tool for servers administration in Ubuntu.
“Systems configuration and administration are always confusing and costly problems for small and medium enterprises. Warp Networks solves that problem with the eBox Platform” said Stephen R. Walli. “It is a privilege to be working with the Warp team as they deliver and expand their business solutions using open source software.”
“The idea of eBox Platform arose from a true need to easily manage corporate networks and after three years of development we can proudly say that the project has become a reality, counting with a strong community of users and developers” stated Ignacio Correas, CEO of Warp Networks. “We are positive the newly appointed board of directors will manage to put eBox at an outstanding position in the international open source business ecosystem.”