Activis to manage security through the channel

Reseller group Articon Integralis has reinvented its email scanning and managed firewall service as a wholly indirect service organisation called Activis.

Reseller group Articon Integralis has reinvented its email scanning and managed firewall service as a wholly indirect service organisation called Activis.

The company combines operations from German security reseller Articon, which merged with Integralis in November, US-based Atlantic Computing, which it bought in April, and UK subsidiary MessageNet.

MessageNet's customers have moved to Integralis, and Activis will sell purely through VARs and internet service providers. Activis will be distributed by Allasso, part of the Integralis group, and is negotiating with other distributors.

John Cheney, Activis managing director, said the market increasingly demands 24-hour managed security services, and resellers need well-resourced partners. "Some VARs tried to offer managed services themselves but struggled to deliver. They can't afford to do it all themselves."

Cheney said Activis can spot intrusion attempts by monitoring firewall logs, but intrusion detection software is not part of the service.

Although paid for by annual subscription, of which resellers get up to 30 per cent, the service does not include firewall software rental. "Resellers can return to customers to whom they have sold [Checkpoint] firewalls, and sell the managed service," he said.

Caroline Hewlett, sales and marketing director at Activis's largest competitor, ATL Networks, questioned resellers' trust in the company due to its ties to Integralis.

A bandwidth-management VAR called Activis merged into Allasso this year, and the group has re-used the name.