Eakins returned to the firm, which he left last summer, to push the adoption of its file transfer server StingRay. While the product has been available for a couple of years, StingRay has continued to be developed. Eakins believes it is the right product at the right time.

"I want to do the same with StingRay as I did originally with Hermstedt," said Eakins. "It's really started to happen. StingRay is now the product to bridge the gap between ISDN and DSL."

He added that the box's network "agnostic" design was useful for users because, although suppliers encourage customers to "get the latest greatest things, you need to talk to the last big thing".

The latest version of the StingRay, the Platinum, has matured to become "really sophisticated" he added, with the capability to work in either push or pull mode. "This is a mature bit of kit it has matured like a Mac Plus to a G5," he said.

Hermstedt dealers are installing between 20-40 StingRays per month. Clients read like a who's who of the industry. Filetransfer.co.uk's clients include Dixons, Production Response and the SP Group. Pro2col's sites include Communisis and Marks & Spencer. Newspapers are also showing an interest in the StingRay, due to its security.

"The final piece of the jigsaw was making it secure," said Eakins. "The national newspapers are even more security conscious than the government."

He added that some network providers were taking the box, with an Interoute version of the StingRay. "I'd like there to be Wam!Net and Vio versions," said Eakins. "It should be like mobile phones [where you pick the handset for the features and the network for the service]."

Story by Barney Cox