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Cyberoam, Watchguard, Sonicwall & Astaro to Combat Quick Heal’s UTM foray

Quick Heal’s announcement into UTM market is important. There are more than half a dozen UTM players addressing security needs of Indian SMBs. Encompassing a 25 branch office and a robust channel network, Quick Heal selling security software will leverage its existing infrastructure brand recall for UTMs too. How will security vendors confront this new market competitor in Indian UTM landscape?

We believe that healthy completion is very important for any business as it encourages investment in R&D and results in a win-win situation for both - the business and the customer, says Shubhomoy Biswas, Country Director, India & SAARC, SonicWALL. Hemal Patel, MD & CEO, Elitecore Technologies (provider of Cyberoam) in a cautious tone says, “We are extremely vigilant about Quick Heal’s entry into UTM as we think they might hurt us. We are doubling partner strength, more hand holding channels and adding SOHO UTM to remain partner loyal.”

India’s UTM market at high double digit growth for past few years and the volume potential is very attractive for vendors. “However, the main concern from partners and customers is innovative and reliable product at the best value for money price points,” says Sunil Sapra, Country Manager - India & SAARC, Astaro. “I really don’t think that Quick Heal should affect the dynamics of UTM segment as every vendor has space in this huge market. It should not bother our market share,” comments Mohit Puri, Country Manager - India / SAARC, WatchGuard Technologies.

As a completely a partner driven organization, all our partners have been very loyal to us and some are with us for a very long time, claims Biswas. We are the market leaders for UTMs in Indian SMBs and we along with partners are putting effort to retain our position, claims Biswas at SonicWALL. Watchguard would continue acquiring more partners across India. We run schemes like “enjoy the journey” which gives incentives to partner on leads and not on closures which extends partner loyalty. “The limited number of dedicated partners has understood the Astaro value and can always expect outstanding products at exceptional value for their customers that will be unique to the IT security industry.  This makes Astaro a valuable inclusion to all our partners’ product portfolio,” says Sapra at Astaro.

A majority of partners of Quick Heal and Cyberoam overlap as both vendors operate in SOHO/SMB segment. Will Cyberoam partners shift sides? “We are launching SOHO UTM which will not dip our revenues and help combat new players like Quick Heal,” says Patel.

R & D will keep UTM vendors ahead of each other. “We recently launched application web control last month and we would introduce more features and new hardware in second half of 2011,”says Puri. Product-wise, Astaro will also launch new products in Q2 this year in form of Next Generation Firewall focused on Granular Application Layer Security and Next Generation Reporting. “We will introduce a distinctly robust Log Management System and highly innovative Endpoint Security soon.  This will clearly differentiates us from “Me too” players,” says Sapra.

R&D is the key for sustaining in UTM business, agrees Biswas. SonicWALL SuperMassive series to be launched in the next quarter is industry's first next-generation security platform and technology capable of detecting and controlling applications, he comments. While most players push their products based on appliance specifications, Astaro focuses more on software i.e. quality and stability of features, flexibility of deployment, ease of management and adding new and unique functionalities, says Sapra at Astaro.

Fortinet caters to mid market and large enterprises and Quick Heal’s entry will not have much effect. An accepted brand for its AV portfolio across SMBs, Quick Heal Technologies is bound to leave no stone unturned. . Quick Heal has a brand recall in India and how much they will be successful is to be seen? , wonders Patel at Elitecore Technologies.

Are established UTM vendors prepared to keep the loyal partners on their side?