Network Security Software

Champ: Trend Micro

By John Longwell, ChannelWeb

3:00 PM EDT Fri. Apr. 14, 2006
From the April 17, 2006 issue of CRN

Solution providers gave Trend Micro high marks for the reliability, manageability and price/performance of its network security software products, and that was enough to give the vendor a slight edge in this Channel Champions category.

Trend Micro's overall satisfaction rating of 75.7 came in just one-tenth of a point ahead of Check Point Software Technologies' 75.6 rating. Next in line were Symantec with 74.3, McAfee with 73.7 and CA with 71.4.

Trend Micro held the biggest advantage in technical areas, pulling 1.5 points ahead of its closest competitor on the criterion of reliability and 2.9 points ahead in the area of price/performance.

Partners said the vendor delivers good value through its complete line of products, including its centrally managed NeatSuite antivirus package, tailored for different customer segments. "They have a single scanning engine for their tools. It just creates a networked environment that works a lot better together," said Sean Rice, director of sales for ACP, Birmingham, Ala. "From our largest customers to our smallest, it just works well."

Another tier-one partner, The Burwood Group, Chicago, finds the company delivers good value in the SMB market through its strategic relationship with Cisco Systems. "You get the router, the security, the antivirus—all those things in one box," said Mark Theoharous, president of The Burwood Group, Chicago.

Partners also praised Trend Micro for stepping up investments in the channel over the past year, including the addition of channel development managers to augment its regional account managers. "They've had a very strong year in the Americas and are investing heavily in this region," Theoharous said.

Still, Check Point pulled eight-tenths of a point into the lead on channel criteria after solution providers rated its more mature training and certification programs 4.3 points higher than Trend Micro's.

Nancy Reynolds, director of channel sales in North America for Trend Micro, said that is an area where the company sees opportunity to grow. "We want to raise the bar—the tips, the tricks, the knowledge transfer—and we're going to the next level and help those engineers hone their skills," she said.

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