Trend Micro: SaaS Security Meets the Channel

Two days after Symantec officially ushered in a new CEO, rival Trend Micro attempted to get a leg up in the software as a service (SaaS) security market. Here’s the scoop, from The VAR Guy.

As expected, Enrique Salem succeeded John Thompson as Symantec’s CEO on April 4. Salem inherits one of the world’s largest security and storage software providers. But here’s the interesting twist: The Symantec Protection Network — a SaaS service for VARs and customers — so far focuses on storage but doesn’t yet offer security services.

Meanwhile, Trend Micro continues to evangelize its SaaS security services for channel partners. The company on April 6 declared:

Trend Micro claims its hosted security for the channel program offers five key benefits for channel partners:

Sounds wonderful. But are channel partners really ready for SaaS-oriented security solutions?  The VAR Guy certainly thinks so. A case in point: More than 80 percent of managed service providers offer some form of managed or hosted security services, according to the annual MSPmentor 100 survey. And increasingly, MSP software providers are building patch management and anti-virus capabilities into their platforms.

Still, security won’t transition completely to the cloud. Most VARs and MSPs are pursuing hybrid approaches, where on-premise solutions and cloud services potentially offer a best-of-both-worlds scenario to customers.

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