Symantec announced a new SAAS targeting small and midsize businesses. This offering deepens its competition with other security vendors such as McAfee, Websense and Trend Micro pushing SAAS as a delivery model.
Symantec
launched a new cloud-based offering aimed at the small and midsize
business market.
The
service - dubbed Symantec Hosted Endpoint Protection - is designed to be
managed from a Web-based console and is focused on protecting Windows-based
laptops, desktops, and file servers. Leveraging Symantec's Global Intelligence
Network for threat information, the service includes anti-virus, anti-spyware,
firewall and host intrusion prevention.
Systems
are updated automatically and transparently over the Internet to keep employee machines
in line with client policies even when they are not logged into their corporate
VPN, Symantec said. Administrators can receive real-time alerts via SMS or e-mail and perform a
number of functions, including viewing system history, initiating a LiveUpdate
to refresh system protection levels and changing local policy settings.
The new
service continues Symantec's competition with other security vendors targeting
SMBs with cloud offerings. McAfee for example announced a
cloud-based Web
protection service last year aimed at the midmarket, while
Websense recently
announced a new architecture called Triton to manage the company's on-premises
and cloud security offerings through a single console.
According
to Forrester Research analyst Jonathan Penn, Symantec is embracing
SAAS (software as a service) as a delivery model more than any of the other
major security vendors it competes with. The market opportunity is huge,
particular in developed areas such as e-mail security as well as fast-growing
segments such as vulnerability assessments and Web content security, he noted.
However,
Symantec does face some challenges, he said.
"Many of
Symantec's SAAS offerings come from acquisition...and hence are not on functional
parity with its CPE (customer premise equipment) counterparts, nor is the
management unified across CPE and hosted," he said.
In
addition, Symantec's aggressiveness in developing and pushing its own SAAS
solutions has the potential to create conflict with VARs and leading service
providers also moving to SAAS for security solutions, he added.
Rowan
Trollope, senior vice president of Symantec Hosted Services, commented that the
new service separates itself from the pack by using a simple Web-based
management console that allows businesses to easily manage and deploy security
across their workforce. In addition, the service joins the company's already
broad portfolio of SAAS products spanning e-mail, Web and IM security, he
added.
"This new
service leverages Symantec's 18 years of experience developing technology for
endpoint protection and the 10-plus years of software-as-a-service leadership
that we acquired through the acquisition of MessageLabs about 18 months ago,"
Trollope said.
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