D-Link, Check Point Team Up
Under the agreement, D-Link will weave Check Point's firewall and VPN technology into two new additions to its NetDefend line of SMB security appliances. Slated for availability this quarter, the appliances are aimed at businesses of up to 100 seats and 25 VPN users. D-Link did not provide pricing on the appliances.
The products also will include features such as gateway-based virus protection, intrusion prevention and content filtering, said Robert Robinson, director of business channel sales at D-Link, Fountain Valley, Calif.
Check Point's infrastructure is scalable and includes support for outsourced third-party management, which means partners will have the opportunity to provide managed security services, Robinson said.
"That's a big piece that comes with the Check Point collaboration because VARs will be able to sell appliances to the customers along with the ability to manage those boxes from a central location," Robinson said.
Gregg Flatt, president at Flat Earth, a Check Point partner in Nashville, Tenn., said Check Point's proprietary Embedded NGX and application intelligence technology will make the NetDefend products more attractive to the SMB market.
"Check Point's technology more than just inspects packets. It goes deep into applications and provides security there as well," he said.
Adding an extra layer of security to its NetDefend line provides a way for D-Link to reach a larger market, said Terry Sharkey, president at solution provider National Tech Services, Mundelein, Ill. "This will take it from being a SOHO product to one that will address the SMB market," she said.
Although the addition of Check Point shows that D-Link wants to push higher into the enterprise market, the vendor's lack of brand recognition will prevent it from doing so anytime soon, one partner said.
"There are pieces of D-Link that are well-respected and that people would feel comfortable using in the core of their networks, but people are afraid to go with [a company that's] not known in the field," the partner said. "D-Link's issue is not with technology, it's with marketing, and this is a very real issue they need to address."