Trend Micro beat out the competition to take first place in the category of Network Security Software in our 2009 ARC survey. This is a repeat win for the vendor, which came in first in 2008 as well.
Trend Micro dominated the criteria of quality and reliability with a score of 91.9, and also came out strong in technical innovation with a score of 82.2, and richness of product features and functionality with a score of 83.2--which was bested by McAfee (85.5). Trend Micro won the subcategories of partnership and support, but lost product innovation to McAfee.
"It is because of our partners that we are deserving of this award," said Jean Lozano, vice president of channel marketing for Trend Micro. "This is an extension of our unwavering commitment to our partners. We are here, and we are here for them."
Lozano said that the award was earned, in part, by concerted efforts to ramp up partner training--ensuring training is available to all partner types, investing in support tools and adding support in its Arlington office.
The investment in partner training and support was not necessarily reflected in Trend Micro's ARC scores, which were low, but matched competitors in the criteria of partner portal (62.9), marketing support (65.6) and quality of field management (67.6).
Lozano said that down the road, Trend Micro aims to find ways to improve communication and training, and planned to place increased emphasis on helping solution providers identify market opportunities.
