Security Sizzles at XChange Conference

ZyXEL at the show is introducing a new product family with the launch of its USG 300, its new secure gateway for businesses with up to 200 users. For the first time, ZyXEL is delivering an appliance that offers hybrid VPN capabilities, meaning it comes with both IPsec VPN and SSL VPN out of the box, said Phil Thompson, security product manager at ZyXEL, which has North American headquarters in Anaheim, Calif.

The appliance also includes unified threat management features, including anti-virus, intrusion detection and prevention, content filtering and anti-spam. It offers UTM throughput of 48Mbps, the vendor's fastest offering to date, Thompson said.

The box also offers high availability through redundant fail-over capabilities and ability to utilize a cellular WAN connection as backup.

"Small businesses need always-on scenarios too," said Tri Nguyen, manager of business networking products at ZyXEL.

The USG 300 is scheduled to begin shipping later this month. Pricing had not been determined as of press time.

RSA at the conference is enhancing its RSA SecurWorld [STET] program for the Americas, tweaking several rebates aimed at helping partners win new business. Over 700 channel partners worldwide have signed on with the Bedford, Mass.-based company over the last year.

The vendor's deal registration program is now incorporating instant rebates, which will be applied at the time an order is placed with a distributor. The rebates reward partners upfront for developing and winning new business opportunities.

The company is also changing the certification rebate it offers RSA Solutions Partners. Effective August 1, the rebate, which adds an additional five-percent discount off of list prices for partners, will be paid on a monthly basis on qualifying product sales rather than as an upfront instant rebate.

In addition, RSA is now requiring sales authorization for some of its more complex product lines, including RSA enVision, RSA Access Manager, RSA Certificate Manager and RSA Federated Identity Manager. The strategy will help ensure that only qualified resellers are handling those products, the company said.