Anti-virus software developer McAfee Inc. is redefining itself into a security software provider.
The company known for its anti-virus products, which only a few years ago was called Network Associates, is coming out with an offering called Total Protection, which will combine and manage all elements of a security system through a single console.
McAfee is also positioning itself in the enterprise space with Total Protection, as the new offering will have four editions: a small business version, a small business advanced version with e-mail server anti-virus, an enterprise version with hosted intrusion protection and an enterprise advanced version with network access control.
Also on the horizon is more security protection for mobile devices and VoIP systems.
“Total Protection solutions enable users to move from seven or eight different consoles down to just a single console,” said Jack Sebbag, Canadian general manager and vice-president of McAfee Canada.
Total Protection will leverage the channel in Canada and in the U.S. Sebbag believes that because Total Protection is an integrated end-to-end solution it will enable the channel to talk to more customers than ever before.
In the past, McAfee channel partners would have to wait for a displacement opportunity, but with Total Protection they can offer the solution to customers without replaceing the current anti-virus, no matter if it is from Symantec or Trend Micro.
Currently, McAfee Canada has 600 VARs, which is up from 300 in 2004. McAfee’s David Roberts, senior vice-president of North American channels, said the increase in the number of partners was part of an active recruiting campaign.
McAfee has 2,100 North American partners that have signed up through its McAfee Security Alliance program.
“We are investing this year in growing the channel’s capacity. We’re going to spend some time in the networking space to get more networking skills,” Roberts said.
One of those areas will be the Cisco Dealer Networks, which is 20,000 strong in North America.
Roberts said the company works with Cisco today only on marketing purposes. He added that Cisco channel partners would be able to resell more Cisco gear with the Total Protection solution.
As for Cisco, a formal partnership with McAfee could help the networking giant reach more than 35 million customers in the U.S. alone, said Chris Carter, McAfee’s vice-president in charge of distribution.
“We fully intend to attract more partners. If we had 15,000 (Symantec’s North American partner base) you would be able to sell more than the 2,750 (McAfee’s total North American partner base). But we also need to get deeper with the current partners,” Roberts said.
With that, he believes in continuing to craft country-specific partner programs. Roberts added that he will also continue to increase margins off the product.
“You can’t rely that all partners will be profitable just off of services. I am a big believer that in order for a VAR to get more business you have to ensure product margins and structure rebates and margin enhancements,” Roberts said.
McAfee is also upgrading its SAP system away from a direct sales model to an indirect system.
Currently, Roberts said McAfee is only equipped to deal with 1,000 partners and more investment is needed internally.
