“A case of being over-enthusiastic”, is how a Citrix Australia spokesperson describes the situation in which the directors of an Auckland consultancy registered the phone number 0800 CITRIX before establishing formal partner relations with Citrix.
Matthew Zonderop and Erik Kerkhove claim extensive experience with Citrix in Europe and intend to work with Citrix technology in New Zealand through their company, Zilverfern. Shortly after establishing the thin-client specialist last month they registered the number 0800 CITRIX with Telecom, but, after talking to Citrix, have dropped it.
“Citrix is a registered name and most companies in the world won’t let anyone make use of their name,” the Citrix spokesperson says.
However, the pair have been offered the opportunity to join the Citrix consulting partner programme, to be launched later this month, Zonderop says.
The Citrix spokesperson says Citrix is keen to work with Zilverfern because of its directors’ Citrix experience, but cautions anyone against using Citrix’s name without first talking to the company.
Zonderop, a New Zealander of Dutch descent, met Kerkhove while working in Holland. The pair believe thin client systems are ideal for organisations employing 350 people or fewer. “The market for server-based computing is enormous in New Zealand, due to the small size of companies.”
Ironically, Zilverfern owes its own name to intellectual property issues. Zonderkop and Kerkhove wanted to call the company Silverfern, but the name was already registered.