Symantec Endpoint Protection 12: VARs Deploy 24 Customers in 24 HRs

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To understand the Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) v12 strategy, you need to rewind to SEP v11’s launch — which suffered from bugs and bloatware. Symantec delivered service packs and SEP v11 polish, but many channel partners and end-customers felt burned by the original v11 launch.

Fast forward to the present. It sounds like Symantec has been taking its time with the SEP v12 launch, in a bid to address any lingering skepticism tied to SEP v11’s difficult launch. “We didn’t want a false start,” Desai told The VAR Guy. The new release, he says, will serve everyone from small offices to enterprises with hundreds of thousands of users. A closed beta launched in March 2011. The open beta arrived in early May 2011. And the SEP v12 code went gold — that is, finalized — the second week of June 2011. An official launch announcement is expected sometime today (July 6).

Early Moves

So far, more than 12,000 Symantec employees are running SEP v12. And Symantec has lined up several channel partners to deploy SEP v12 across 24 customer settings within the next 24 hours. The deployments involve end-customers worldwide; each customer typically has 100 or fewer endpoints, Desai said.

SEP v12  supports 13 languages, and runs on everything from Windows XP to Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Mac environments. On the server, it supports Windows Server 2003 through Windows Server 2008 R2SP1, Desai added.

There’s also a hosted desktop and virtual desktop angle. As SEP v12 builds a database of safe files in a virtual environment, it doesn’t re-scan  those same file images from one virtual image to the next. The approach vastly reduces overall scan times and overhead for SEP v12, Desai indicated.

Desai also is keeping a close look on emerging mobile devices like tablets. So far, Symantec’s Norton product line is the lead brand for Symantec’s smart phone and tablet security strategy. But stay tuned. As tablets proliferates in the enterprise over the next year or two, The VAR Guy suspects Symantec Endpoint Protection will eventually extend to safeguard such devices. For now, that’s just a hunch.

In the meantime, SEP v12 arrives today. In many cases, Symantec remains the best-known security software company. But competition remains fierce — especially as Intel digests McAfee; Trend Micro and Kaspersky, respectfully, continue their global expansions; and Sophos acquires Astaro.

That’s a lengthy list of competitors, each of which continues to engage the channel. Can SEP v12 give Symantec a leg up against the competition — while empowering Symantec’s channel partners? The VAR Guy will be watching.

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