Panda Security UK is aiming to triple its reseller base following its change of ownership and the launch of its first cloud-based security service for business.

Private equity-backed Panda Security acquired Panda UK from distributor Formjet in July as part of its plans to build a global business and, eventually, go public.

The vendor has now announced its move into software as a service (SaaS) with the launch of Panda Cloud Protection.

The cloud-based service can be managed by the customer itself or by the reseller, which may earn margins equal to those they can make on Panda’s standard package.

Petter Lautin, Panda Security’s managing director UK and Ireland, revealed aggressive plans to boost its UK VAR tally from 600 to 1,800 over the next year.

“Cloud will be a significant driver of that,” he said. “Panda has a good selection of traditional malware and endpoint solutions. However, in the UK we will focus more of our efforts around this launch and establishing Panda in the UK as a leader for cloud security in the SME space.”

Panda has loose ties with distributors Micro Peripherals and Blue Solutions in the UK, but Lautin said he would not look to fully engage a two-tier model until sufficient demand had been established. Panda also plans to grow its headcount from 18 to 25.

Lautin argued that Panda’s SaaS margin structure was different from competitors, most of which he claimed offer less generous discounts on their services.

Caroline Hodson, head of UK channel sales and marketing at rival Trend Micro, denied this was the case.

“That is an interesting claim,” she said. “There aren’t that many vendors I can think of that change their margin model between software and SaaS.”