The Hindu Business Line : Symantec to reach out to SMEs via channel partners

To be implemented through channel partners, these security solutions would provide both customisation, and flexibility of technology deployment, according to the company. Mr Mark Read, Technical Product Manager, Asia-Pacific, Symantec Corporation, told Business Line that though the small and medium enterprise (SME) segment is a class in itself and growing significantly, when it comes to security, these players' needs do not vary significantly from larger enterprises.

However, the challenge lies in convincing them about an integrated solutions approach that ensures their security concerns are collectively addressed.

Channel-driven initiative

He said this initiative was part of the Symantec Global System Builder programme, which is a new channel-driven initiative. Through this new blueprint, all the security deployments are made through them as they understand the market in which they function. This ensures that the large sensitive data that resides in the enterprise is not only secure but also meets various regulatory compliance issues. This also ensures that the necessary information is retrieved without any difficulty, he explained.

"As we studied various markets, we realised that small and medium enterprises cannot afford to rip and replace solutions and they do not have dedicated teams to manage this issue. Through back-up products and Symantec Ghost Solutions Suite, these companies, typically with employees ranging from 10 to 1,000, get similar assurance as large enterprises get," he said.

Asked if the company planned to offer this as an on-demand service, Mr Read said it had announced its plan to offer this to home users through Norton 360 offering, but as of now, there was no effort to offer this as a managed service. However, in some markets such as the US, there were efforts to provide software as a service, depending upon the requirements of enterprises.