ZyXEL in safe hands with C-MI Labs deal

Networking vendor ZyXEL has its sights set on becoming a top security brand and has signed distributor C-MI Labs to aid its push into the security channel.

The Taiwan-based firm will be aiming its range of security products at the SME market and, as part of its new Security Elite Reseller programme, will be offering resellers technical and sales training as well as account management and a finance package.

C-MI will work alongside ZyXEL’s existing distributors to serve the burgeoning security reseller base.

ZyXEL’s distribution sales manager Phil Croxford told CRN: “We are seeing the security market flourish as there are different threats from viruses. This is about making our products more available.

“We perceive C-MI as a growing company and it has a relatively small team. My hopes for the next year or two would be to build ZyXEL into one of the top security brands.”

C-MI works with a number of security vendors, including Breach, eSoft and PineApp, but chief technical officer Neil Patmore said that ZyXEL’s products bring something new to the market.

“We see a gap in the market for ZyXEL’s firewall unified threat management product, certainly for the SME market. It fits that gap ­ we were not looking for a standard firewall box,” he said.