July, 2007

Trend Micro launches SaaS security platform

Another security vendor is getting into the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business.

Trend Micro has released SecureCloud, a platform that offers messaging gateway security, hosted email security and botnet identification services. And the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is aiming SecureCloud at its channel partners: By using SecureCloud in conjunction with the Trend Micro Worry-Free Remote Manager, partners can remotely manage services for multiple customers from one hosted location. The company’s future plans for SecureCloud include the ability to manage customers’ gateways as well.

Trend Micro also says partners can scale SecureCloud to meet the needs of small businesses and large enterprises. Here’s the price structure:

Email Reputation Services Advanced (messaging gateway security): $6.80 per user for 250 users

InterScan Hosted Messaging Security Advanced (hosted email security): $28.50 per user for 250 users

Botnet Identification Service: 9 cents per user for 500,000 users

The SecureCloud announcement marks another shift towards managed services in the security market. In April, Symantec launched its Online Backup Service — its first in a planned series of SaaS offerings called the Symantec Protection Network. McAfee also offers security SaaS platforms, including its Secure Messaging Service and Security Alert Service.

Does the SaaS trend threaten value-added resellers, who see vendors and managed service providers hosting more and more of the work they’d typically do? Or does it present new opportunities? SearchSecurityChannel.com is working on a story asking these questions, but leave your comments in the meantime.

Channel headlines for July 31, 2007: Oracle 11g testers speak up; Black Hatters show DB attack; Cisco backpedals on Linksys brand death; Sun shows 3Q profit; Cisco edget Avaya in IP PBX; SOX pays dividend.

Oracle Database 11g beta testers speak up Oracle Database 11g beta testers have a lot to say about the system’s Real Application Testing and XML capabilities.  SearchOracle.com]

Black Hat 2007: Researchers highlight new database attack method At this week’s hacker confab, expert penetration testers will demonstrate how cyberthieves can reach into corporate databases — without exploiting a specific software flaw — to steal credit card and Social Security numbers.  SearchSecurity.com]

Cisco backpedals: not planning to retire Linksys brand anytime soon CEO Chambers may have spoken prematurely about sunsetting the brand at a recent press conference. [eWEEK]

Continued »

Channel headlines for July 30, 2007: Cisco invests in VMWare, nixes Linksys brand; EU charges Intel with monopoly; court warns on Web contracts; Microsoft sets Web strategy, IBM sets Second Life selling rules.

Cisco investing $150 million in VMware Cisco’s $150 million investment comes on the heels of $200 million from Intel and on the eve of VMware’s expected IPO. [eWEEK]

Cisco disconnects Linksys brand The network is the SMB router. [TheReg]

EU Charges Intel With Monopoly Abuse EU regulators said Friday they have charged Intel Corp. with monopoly abuse for blocking rival computer chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s access to customers. [AP]

Continued »

Channel headlines for July 27, 2007: Microsoft wants “shared” to mean “open,” MSFT desktop manager download; Microsoft challenges Google on search; justify VoIP without cost analysis; Oracle releases new Siebel CRM; Ballmer defends Web strategy.

Microsoft now wants its Shared Source licenses to qualify as open source Microsoft officials said at the O’Reilly Open Source conference this week that they are going to seek Open Source Initiative (OSI) approval for Microsoft’s Shared Source licenses, but have not provided specifics. Why is Microsoft interested in doing this now? [All About Microsoft]

Microsoft desktop manager RC1 ready for download The first release candidate for System Center Configuration Manager 2007, the cornerstone of Microsoft’s systems management play, bests SMS on several counts.  SearchWinIT.com]

Microsoft challenges Google with uber search center Dreams the impossible dream. [TheReg] Continued »

Is HP getting ready to swallow Bull SA?

Published reports say Hewlett Packard Corp. is getting ready to buy  French systems integrator Bull SA for 720 million euros 7.5 euros per share.

Speculation on the buyout began when Capital Magazine reported that HP is in advanced discussions with Bull SA and CNN Money.com picked up the story.

Based in France, Bull SA provides system integration consulting, outsourcing, storage infrastructure, security solutions and software publishing. 

Among the company’s customers are firms in the banking, finance, telecommunication and manufacturing sectors. The group has operations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Netherlands and Germany.

A spokesperson for HP said the company would not comment on rumors of a Bull SA buyout.  “The company has nothing to add at this time,” the spokesperson said. 

The reports come in a week when HP announced on Monday the acquisition of software company Opsware Inc., paying $1.6 billion in cash.  By automating certain management tasks, Opsware reduces a company’s cost and complexity to run their data centers.  

On Monday HP also said it will acquire Neoware Inc., a company based in King of Prussia, Pa. paying $214 million, or $16.25 per share.  The acquisition will hasten the growth of HP’s thin client business. 

IBM reorg aims Big Blue at SMB customers

IBM has launched another reorg aimed at boosting sales of its hardware into SMB accounts.

In the name of simplicity and “ease of use” IBM is building a single partner-facing sales force to rep all of its Systems and Technology hardware brands, its Global business partner org and its Global technology Services Group.

This is all well and good. Partners have long (privately) complained about the difficulties of navigating the various teams and fiefdom’s at Big Blue and this could take a chunk out of that issue. IBM’s Systems and Technology broad hardware portfolio, its Global Technology Services Group and its Global Business Partners personnel will now be funneled into a single team into a single team that will present what IBM calls one unified face to business partners.

In that way, Joe Schmoe VAR theoretically wouldn’t have to deal with one rep for AS/400 (oops iSeries) another for Intel-based servers, and yet another for storage systems. That’s all well and good, especially if the designated team member actually KNOWS all those product lines.

But, knowing how complicated IBM remains; there’s skepticism that this partner interaction can ever get easy. Also, big gap here: The company’s Software Group is not included in the simplification plan, and some partners say it very much should be. Several say the Software group’s “Express” efforts – essentially a repackaging of Big Boy products like WebSphere Portals or DB2 for small and medium businesses — haven’t met expectations.

One major problem is vendor-mandated segmentation of enterprise partners is vs. SMB partners. IBM, like Microsoft, like Oracle, refuses to believe that even smallish VARs can have very big accounts. Instead they persist in pushing enterprise business to their hand-picked enterprise global integrators or worse yet, to their own services group.

Another issue: If you’re a partner, would you rather sell an “Express” product for a couple thousand dollars or a $30,000 enterprise product. You see my point

In its recent earnings call, IBM said software and services led growth in its overall 12 percent gain in net income. Hardware sale/income was relatively flat after currency adjustments.

With a resurging Hewlett Packard gaining ground in hardware and now bolstering its data center services by buying OpSource, IBM’s got some worrying to do both on the enterprise and SMB front.

Barbara Darrow, a Boston-area journalist, can be reached at mbdarrow@comcast.net.

Microsoft Live services, anti-Google strategy, leave partners out of the loop

For Microsoft the question of whether to host or not to host remains a sticky one.

This week the company reiterated its hosting platform plans at HostingCon 2007 in Chicago and talked a bit about how the upcoming Windows Server 2008 and IIS7 will bolster hosting capabilities for partners and — no-brainer alert — for Microsoft itself.

While Google has hosted and managed its own services offerings from the get-go all by itself, Microsoft continues to walk a fine line between bringing hosting into its data centers and continuing to offer long-time hosting partners a robust platform for their services and software.

The company’s CRM Live and Office Live offerings are examples of how it wants to play all sides of the hosting game, on-premises delivery model.

Some of those partners compete directly with nascent Microsoft Office Live offerings and will continue to do so.

According to one long-time Microsft hosting partner: “We use Windows SharePoint Services as a platform so Microsoft is a platform and infrastructure partner. We develop on their APIs and leverage their ecosystem. That said, from an application and services perspective, we compete with Office Live which likewise runs on Windows SharePoint Services.”

Continued »

Channel headlines for July 26, 2007: Apple profits soar; data loss at US .mil; Seagate to stop making IDE; MSFT updates process monitor; Toshiba “docks” wirelessly.

Apple profit soars 73% as sales rise The results exceeded analysts’ expectations as the company reported strong sales of iPods and Macintosh computers, as well as the sale of 270,000 iPhones. [NYT]

Data loss blights US military, Aussie bank, and Fox network Butterfingers all round. [TheReg]

Symantec sales up, but profits drop Norton suite secures revenue. [TheReg]

Continued »

Another study shows end users’ lack of awareness

I have a friend who works for an IT help desk. A few weeks back, an employee called him up and asked — and I quote — “How do I use the Internet?”

Now, a new study by Trend Micro is confirming what most people (especially IT help desk employees) already knew: A lot of end users are clueless about the technology they work with daily.

This study specifically focused on Web threats — malware from the Internet that can install malicious software, steal sensitive information and use up a computer’s resources. Of the 1,600 end users who responded from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Japan, just 54% said they were aware of such threats. Germany had the most aware users at 63%, ahead of the U.K. (57%) and United States (54%). Only 43% of Japanese users said they were aware of Web threats, but Trend Micro said that data may be wrong because “Web threats,” as a phrase, “is difficult to translate into Japanese and is not often used.”

The results show that awareness of Web threats is “slowly” rising, Trend Micro said. The results also indicated that Web threats are the third most serious IT security issue, behind viruses and trojans. Other threats that received mention were pharming, phishing and spam. In a press release, Trend Micro’s anti-malware CTO, Raimund Genes, said Web threats are “perhaps the greatest challenge to protecting the privacy of personal information and the confidentiality of corporate information.”

As vendors are wont to do with these kinds of studies, Trend Micro uses these results to push the need for “a multi-layered, comprehensive set of techniques … to address the newest class of threats” — in this case, the Trend Micro Web Threat Protection Strategy product.