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In the fast-changing security landscape, Symantec worked hard on the delivery of complete solutions to customers over the past 12 months.
"Our customers demand more complete solutions and local support to keep their operation running and services available in a 24x7 manner," said Michael Chue, managing director, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Symantec. Businesses today not only need traditional tools such as antivirus and firewall but also products for all-round protection, which include intrusion detection, end-point security, compliance tools, and information management and archiving software, he added.
The company's effort resulted in a successful year. Having finished its fiscal year 2007 on March 30, Symantec's non-GAAP revenue grew 5 % to US$5.25 billion. Besides, Symantec had 376 wins worldwide worth more than US$300,000 each in the last quarter alone, including 99 worth more than US$1 million each. Of those 376 contracts, 77 percent were multiple-product deals. |
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All-out R&D
In Hong Kong, Symantec also has tremendous success. According to Chue, the company in March won a deal to provide Hactl (Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals) with datacenter management solutions. In addition, Symantec had new customers from the banking and finance sector in the past year.
Chue attributed the firm's success in Hong Kong to its focus on security management tools for heterogeneous environments. "Our focus on this area means huge R&D spending, which is rare among our competitors," said Chue.
According to Chue, Symantec spends 15% to 20% of revenues on R&D. "The result: our security products are able to support different IT platforms," said Chue. "No matter what platforms our customers have, Symantec products provide them with the same functionalities and feel."
Research on Internet security trends is another factor Symantec considers crucial to its success. The company released two reports on worldwide trends in Internet security threats every year. Chue said these reports not only let Symantec keep abreast with the latest angles of attack, but also allow those concerned about Internet security to become more aware of risks.
Behind all the business initiatives and R&D programs is Symantec's 3 "I" vision. Chue explained that this represents information, infrastructure, and interaction. "Only when users have confidence in the security of these three realms will they expand their businesses or do different things on the Internet," said Chue.
When people start to make more use of the Internet, they will increase their efficiency, Chue added. "For instance, when you are assured of Internet security, you will use an online banking service to manage your financial assets rather than going to a physical ATM machine," said Chue. "That results in improved productivity."
Three pillars
Moving forward in the next 12 months, the security product provider will continue its 3 'I' vision and the goal of providing more complete solutions. All these will be supported by Symantec's "three pillars," which Chue described as datacenter management, security data management, and services.
The firm's acquisition of Altiris in April is part of the moves towards a complete solution. Altiris is a provider of IT management software that enables companies to manage and service network-based endpoints-from mobile devices, laptops, and desktops to servers and storage assets.
"We expect to leverage Altiris' strength in reducing the cost and complexity of tracking, supporting, and maintaining an organization's corporate IT assets," said Chue.
Datacenters usually have heterogeneous products such as servers and storage devices. Thus, they need tools that can help manage different products and maintain security effectively. Chue said Symantec's products are able to deal with different IT tools from a range of vendors. "It's an advantage unrivalled by our competitors," he added.
Outside the datacenters, there is a growing number of end-points and servers that can access enterprise networks today. Businesses need to allow various devices to access its networks or part of them. For instance, a bank allows customers to access its online services with various devices such as PCs, mobile phones or PDAs.
To help raise confidence of enterprises and their customers in online business activities and the use of different end-point devices, Symantec has a variety of solutions to help strengthen security.
One of the innovative Symantec offerings is a server-level solution that helps prevent the theft of customer information at public end-points such as Internet-connected PCs in coffee shops, according to Chue.
Symantec also provides extensive services in implementation, support and partner education. "Our professional services team helps customers implement new products. We also have a strong support organization," said Chue. "We never forget to train our partners for high quality of services to customers.
Challenges and opportunities
Despite last year's success, there are also challenges for the company in the Hong Kong market. Chue said the firm needs to continue its effort in updating local SMEs about the latest security technologies.
"The majority of the local businesses is SMEs. From my experience, they are eager to know what products and technologies can help them combat the myriad threats," said Chue. "Like larger enterprises, SMEs also do more trading with partners and customers. Thus security becomes increasingly important."
In addition, Chue sees market opportunities in the build-up of more large-scale datacenters in Hong Kong.
"Back in 2003 when SARS hit Hong Kong, many datacenters moved away to other Asian locations," said Chue. "But now they (datacenters) are coming back. I can see more large, regional datacenters being established in Hong Kong." Chue believes the reasons behind this include Hong Kong's outstanding infrastructure and reliable telecom networks.
He said that buildings in Hong Kong are of high quality and support datacenters with uninterrupted power. Besides, the local telecom 'big pipes' are always available. "The mainland or other Asian cities offer cheaper rent than Hong Kong, but datacenters must be supported by high network availability and reliable power supply, which is Hong Kong's forte." Therefore, Chue foresees higher demand for datacenter security management products in the SAR in the new fiscal year.
Symantec's threat reports
Symantec regularly posts its Internet Security Threat Reports, which offers analysis and discussion of threat activity over a six-month period. It covers Internet attacks, vulnerabilities, malicious code, phishing, spam and security risks as well as future trends. The eleventh version of the report, released March 19, 2007, is now available.
This volume of the Internet Security Threat Report offers an overview of threat activity between July 1 and December 31, 2006. The current Internet security threat environment is characterized by an increase in data theft, data leakage and the creation of malicious code targeting specific organization for information that can be used for financial gain. Attackers are now refining their methods and consolidating their assets to create global networks that support coordinated criminal activity. Volume XI includes a new category: "Underground Economy Servers". These are used by criminals and criminal organizations to sell stolen information, including government-issued identity numbers, credit cards, bank cards and personal identification numbers (PINs), user accounts, and email address lists. To reduce facilitating identity theft, organizations should take steps to protect data stored on or transmitted over their computers. It is critical to develop and implement encryption to ensure that any sensitive data is protected from unauthorized access.
Check the latest Symantec threat report at http://www.symantec.com/enterprise/theme.jsp?themeid=threatreport
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