Symantec Readies Significant SAAS Push

Security applications market leader Symantec is preparing to launch a range of hosted security products in an effort to tap into the growing demand for software delivered as a service.

Symantec said it believes that its customers are ready to begin outsourcing more of their security operations on the online model, mirroring the shift that has transformed the manner in which companies use other types of business applications such as SFA (sales force automation) software.

Officials with Symantec, based in Cupertino, Calif., said the company will introduce multiple hosted security software services at some point in the next few months.

While the company won’t yet detail what types of applications it will launch under the online model, the initial offerings will likely be focused on infrastructure-oriented technologies, according to Jeff Hausman, senior director of product management for Symantec’s Security Response and Managed Security Services business units.

“We’ve seen the evolution of the model and we know there are certain types of customers who don’t have the desire to deploy traditional software products,” Hausman said. “If you look at our existing portfolio of software and services, the vision is for us to take all the applicable technologies and enable them in the software-as-a-service model; our vision is to allow customers to consume the technology in any manner they want.”

Read more here about why leaders in the anti-virus market are turning to services.

When Symantec Chief Executive John Thompson outlined the company’s latest corporate vision in early 2006, he said the longtime anti-virus market leader will increasingly focus on providing the security and availability technologies necessary for organizations to keep their infrastructures up and running. Hausman said the firm’s initial SAAS plans will support that strategy.

Much as hosted business applications provider Salesforce.com sowed the seeds for its current success in the enterprise SFA space by initially targeting its online services at midmarket customers, Symantec believes that its initial opportunity with SAAS will come from SMBs (small and midsize businesses), the company said. However, the company expects that enterprises will soon follow.

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