Protecting The Wide, Wild Frontier Of Enterprise E-mail

Naturally, as e-mail has become the transport mechanism of choice for dangers such as viruses, phishing schemes and even corporate espionage, it has become the biggest threat to the enterprise. Add to that the concerns and regulations created by legislative requirements set forth by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, HIPAA and other recently enacted laws, and it creates an environment that can turn corporate e-mail communication from an advantage into a dangerous liability.

MailFrontier hopes to have the answer to that dilemma in the form of its MailFrontier Gateway Appliance Series of products. When the CRN Test Center last looked at MailFrontier’s products (see www.crn.com/testcenter), engineers were impressed with the product’s ability to handle inbound spam and threats. Much has changed since that last look, namely the ability to examine outbound mail for problems. Also of note is the availability of an appliance to run the MailFrontier application. Solution providers now can purchase and quickly install a pre-configured appliance and be on their way. (Although the appliance is quick and easy to deploy, it still offers an impressive amount of fine-tuning options.) The device protects against viruses, worms, zombies and more, eliminating any inbound threats that can be delivered via e-mail.

Added to that is the ability to check outbound e-mail for any problems, including spam generation, address-book hijackings and policy violations. Those violations can be specifically defined by administrators to cover a range of issues, including legislative compliance violations, transmission of proprietary information or inappropriate content.

The feature set proves to be comprehensive and easily managed. Solution providers will be well-served by the enhancements to the product and the inclusion of an appliance.

MailFrontier’s two-level channel program offers technical support, sales and technical training, a dedicated partner Web site, demonstration software licenses and opportunity registration.

In addition, partners are assigned a channel development manager, a channel marketing manager and a regional systems engineer, all of whom provide sales and integration assistance.

Pricing varies based on the number of accounts protected and throughput. Margins can range from 20 percent to 30 percent, with additional profits earned via integration and management services.