NetPerformer Case Study:
A Platform For Profit Growth

Verso NetPerformer^® provides flexible, cost-effective satellite communications for offshore oil rigs and broadens the marketplace for a Verso reseller.

The Opportunity

Network Products Leasing of Lafayette, Louisiana installs and maintains wireless telecommunications network solutions throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Many of its customers are drilling companies that operate offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, where they face special challenges maintaining reliable and cost-effective voice and data communications.

Sam Romero, President and founder of Network Products Leasing, has been working with the offshore drilling industry for nearly two decades. "The offshore environment is challenging enough just because of the physical conditions," he said. "Equipment can easily get knocked around on an oil rig, and saltwater is hard on anything electronic. But the big factor is cost. It's expensive to operate a network out there."

Although earlier microwave systems have been overtaken by cheaper satellite-based solutions, bandwidth is still costly, as is leasing space for subsidiary networking equipment on platforms throughout the Gulf. In addition, the cost of servicing equipment installations is elevated by the expense of helicopter transportation from shore as well as, security concerns that may limit access to platforms, requiring maximum flexibility from solutions providers when scheduling maintenance visits.

"To win business-and to keep it-you have to offer a competitive combination of low cost, fast turnaround, absolute reliability, and great service," said Romero. "You have to use any advantage you can find."

The Solution

Network Product Leasing has been selling a Verso NetPerformer-based solution that enables offshore platforms to upgrade their existing communications infrastructure to an efficient, satellite-based VoIP system that provides high-quality voice and data transmissions. NetPerformer offers superior data compression that minimizes the amount of bandwidth required on the satellite and therefore keeps costs relatively low. The end result is a cost effective solution that handles both voice and Internet traffic. It also transmits sonar data and other information gathered at the oil rig to an onshore location via Frame Relay. "NetPerformer has had excellent technology from the beginning, and it's still the easiest IP voice and data router to implement because it doesn't require additional hardware or external components," said Romero. "It's also one of the few to offer compressed calling over a dial-up modem connection, and our customers want that flexibility."

In a typical case, NetPerformer is replacing equipment from Vanguard. NetPerformer can be used to create a nearly endless variety of system configurations, while the Vanguard product is limited to two or three possibilities. According to Romero, NetPerformer is more scalable, and it's also more readily available, a critical factor for customers who expect quick turnaround on system installations. "We can get product delivery much faster from Verso than from any other manufacturer," said Romero. "For us, that's often the difference between making a sale and losing one."

The solution also includes Verso NetSpective^®, a Web filter that prevents users from wasting bandwidth by visiting "adult" or other off-limits Web sites or using online peer-to-peer services such as instant messaging and music downloads.

The Results

Network Products Leasing can lower its oil-rig customers' communications costs by a substantial margin. "The data compression technology that NetPerformer employs has helped to drive down the monthly cost of satellite bandwidth for a typical rig by well over 50% in the past decade," said Romero.

The company's customers have also, in effect, gained Web access bandwidth by eliminating unauthorized Internet usage with NetSpective. One major benefit of this for Network Products Leasing has been a sharp reduction in virus-related service calls. "Anytime we have to visit an offshore platform to remove a virus from a system, it's an expensive proposition," said Romero. "Since we began including NetSpective in our installations, we've seen the number of virus penetration attempts on our systems drop from as many as 75 a day to zero." Network Products Leasing has also discovered a new NetPerformer market opportunity with significant growth potential: providing "backhaul" services for remote cell sites through a process that streamlines and packetizes cellular traffic then connects it to a data channel that controls switching. The company can reduce a customer's cell phone expenses by as much as 40%.

Romero expects to see his company's revenue grow by 300% in the year ahead, with much of the increase coming from NetPerformer-based solutions. "It's a great product-flexible, scalable, reliable, easy to work with-and the service from Verso has been excellent," he said. "It's technology you can grow on."