Trend Micro took enterprise security up a notch, launching a new family of enterprise and midsize-business security suites Tuesday, but partners are not convinced that the initiative is a game-changer.
The security suites, which are powered by Trend Micro's Smart Protection Network, incorporate and consolidate more security functions in a wider array of offerings. Executives said that the suites, which enhance Trend Micro's existing Enterprise Security for Communication and Collaboration suite, were designed to meet the various needs of Trend Micro's enterprise and midmarket customer base.
The new suites include Trend Micro Enterprise Security Suite, Trend Micro Enterprise Security for Endpoints and Mail Servers, Trend Micro Enterprise Security for Gateways and Trend Micro Enterprise Security for Endpoints.
The flagship product and most comprehensive of the group is the Enterprise Security Suite, which provides protection for Web gateway, mail and file servers, desktops, laptops and mobile devices against viruses, spyware, spam, blended threats and Web-based attacks.
Meanwhile, executives said that prior to the launch, Trend Micro didn't have a comprehensive gateway suite that combined URL filtering and spam prevention in a virtual appliance.
It also didn't have suites containing Mac and mobile security features until now. The Enterprise Security Suite contains both of those features.
"The big win here was upping the level of feature richness," said Vernon Shure, product marketing manager for Trend Micro. "The portfolio fits together in a way that is more cohesive than in the past."
Executives said that launch accommodates increased demand in the marketplace from customers of all segments wanting to further consolidate technologies in an effort to cut costs in the weak economy.
On the partner side, Trend Micro executives said that the new spate of suites would enhance the ease of doing business for channel partners.
'It's going to be a lot easier for partners to grasp what the options are when they're selling to their customers," Shure said.
Partners, however, might have to be convinced that the new series of suites are anything but repackaging of existing products.
"Trend has had fairly decent enterprise products already. I'm not sure what makes this different," said Leo Bletnitsky, president of Las Vegas-based Desktop Valet and Las Vegas Med IT. "It's not something that [compels us] to change existing customers already on Trend to a product suite. Maybe around renewal time."
"We like Trend, and whatever they're coming out with we're definitely going to take a look at it," he added.
Bletnitsky, however, said that added tweaks to functionality could be helpful, even if they weren't likely to be a compelling enough reason for organizations -- especially smaller organizations -- to rip out their existing infrastructure.
"The Mac security is helpful. We are finding there's been this hype about Macs not breaking," he said. "[Trend Micro] is a strong channel play. It's definitely not going to hurt that they're adding additional functionality to their enterprise products."
