October 1, 2001, Mobile, Alabama -- Celebrating a benchmark 5-year anniversary this September, The Net Effect LLC is the oldest Internet consulting company operating in Mobile. In an era of get-rich-quick, fly-by- night, here-today-gone-tomorrow hi-tech companies, The Net Effect -- at the age of 5 -- might even be called venerable.

The firm's principals, Glenda Snodgrass, Mitch Adair, and Geoff Peacock, contend that their success is a function of the quality of their clients. "It's all in the client's attitude," says Snodgrass. "Our clients aim high in their own performance, and they demand this quality in their information systems. They aren't bowled over by slick marketing campaigns, but rather follow their own course in determining the ideal system for their specific needs. We specialize in assisting businesses develop custom solutions, using a variety of software and hardware combinations. Our only allegiance is to the customer's unique needs, with no ties to any specific vendors or products."

"Of course our concentration on the Linux platform is a key element of our success," adds Adair. "Linux offers a powerful, stable and flexible platform for development of custom solutions, as well as easy integration into existing systems. The security of Linux, particularly when compared with other popular operating systems, gives our clients the freedom to do more with their network resources without fear of being broken into or overrun by worms and viruses."

Peacock points to the unique business model of The Net Effect as the foundation for its longevity in the industry. Organized as a consortium of independent consultants and programmers, this company is able to scale up or down on short notice. Flexibility in size, skillset and availability enable The Net Effect to handle jobs of any size and scope.

The Net Effect offers a variety of Internet-related services, within the internal office environment -- firewalls, servers, intranet development; as well as in the public marketplace -- website hosting and development. In addition to its secure e-commerce solutions and online shopping mall, Shop-Eze.Net, the firm recently debuted Docu-Base, a web-based litigation document management system and has under development projects in the financial and entertainment industries.

Peacock was one of the founders of the Mobile Area Free-Net, the organization that brought Mobile County its first Internet access in 1995. Adair is active in Linux kernel development and a noted expert in network security, while Snodgrass specializes in database applications and office productivity. Adair and Snodgrass co-authored two books, Caldera Open Linux Unleashed (Sam's Publishing, 1999) and Samba Unleashed (Sam's Publishing, 2000).