Trend Micro Says 'No Worries' To SMB Partners

Trend Micro on Monday unveiled Worry Free Remote Manager, a new management console that's designed to let channel partners remotely manage their customers' security software.

The new tool is part of the Tokyo-based security vendor's efforts to help partners better manage multiple customer installations of Client Server Security for SMB and Client Server Messaging Security for SMB, said Jon Clay, product marketing manager for the SMB segment at Trend.

Worry Free Remote Manager uses a simple security dashboard layout that lets partners manage customers without the upfront infrastructure investment, Clay said.

The console employs an agent that enables communications back to Trend's servers, although Trend doesn't store any data other than what's needed to pull up information from the individual consoles, according to Clay.

Worry Free Remote Manager is still in beta testing, but is slated for launch in early May, Clay said.

Trend Monday also launched a new SMB support portal that lets partners customize the way they access support information and documentation on software patches and service packs. In addition, the portal gives partners a means of interacting with other partners to find answers to technical questions, Clay said.

In a move that's likely to help Trend's efforts to court SMB customers, Microsoft recently Trend's Client Server Security and Client Server Messaging Security 3.6 products for compatibility with Windows Vista, Clay said.