The Iris companies are just starting to prospect for potential customers. They hope to do pilot tests of products by the end of 2001. The companies that they've stolen talent from could very well become their first customers. Sprint and WorldCom are hungry for clean solutions to the long-distance transmission problem. Scalability is especially important to such large customers.
Carriers often miscalculate increases in data and video traffic.
As a result, they often get caught with inadequate or overpriced services. Even big outfits that sell solutions to carriers, such as Genuity Inc. and Nextira LLC, are looking for technology that's flexible and manageable. Iris's focus on seamlessly fitting with other products and services could be a huge selling point, if the companies are able to surpass the competition's comparable promises. Usually, small companies move quickly by iterating their products. You can't ship a product that doesn't work.