Security Arena Heats Up

Application security software vendor Sana is now fulfilling all of its business through the channel as opposed to the direct strategy it initially used to establish a customer base.

"We feel we're now ready and have worked with enough customers to be able to support a channel," said Andy Leventhal, vice president of business development at San Mateo, Calif.-based Sana.

The company has hired sales managers and engineers for each of its five North American regions to support and generate leads for partners. Sana is also kicking off a seminar series in 11 cities to educate and recruit partners, Leventhal said. Partners will receive on-site sales and technical training, discounts and on-site assistance from Sana sales staff to close deals.

Sana has 19 solution providers signed up for its Primary Response Certified Partners Program, named after the company's Primary Response application security software.

"We get about 10 to 15 calls from security vendors a week, so it takes a lot to get my attention," said Steven Snider, president of Cadre Network Security, Cincinnati, a new Sana partner. "It's not very often that I find something really new and effective, and that's how [Primary Response] struck me. "

For its part, Black Dragon Software is expanding its two-tiered channel program as it rolls out proVizor, its first security risk measurement solution. The solution measures and issues reports on the security effectiveness of an organization's IT assets, said Doug Dormer, president of the Sturgis, Mich.-based company.

"This product will appeal to the SMB market, large organizations and verticals such as government agencies and health care that need to comply with security regulations, so we will be going after a lot of partners to fulfill that need," Dormer said.

Meanwhile, Barracuda Networks this week plans to debut its Spam Firewall, a spam and virus firewall appliance, and an accompanying channel program.

Barracuda's plug-and-play hardware solution combines spam and virus protection at a starting price of $1,199 and requires no per-user licensing fees, said Dean Drako, president and CEO of Barracuda, Los Altos, Calif.