Trend eyes up rivals for SME push

Anti-virus vendor weighs up rivals' channels as it unveils SME channel drive

Caroline Hodson: We have a stronger proposition than McAfee, Symantec and Sophos

Trend Micro is planning a raid on rivals Symantec, McAfee and Sophos’ channels as it gears up to launch an SME reseller recruitment drive.

The anti-virus vendor intends to swell its active SME reseller base from 300 to 450 by the end of the year after launching version 6.0 of its Worry-Free software, which is aimed at firms with up to 250 seats.

Caroline Hodson, head of UK channel sales and marketing at Trend Micro, said: “We are looking for new partners and also partners that have not done any business with us for two years. They might know Trend but before we had a small business-specific solution.”

Hodson said new recruits would benefit from Trend’s long-term policy of providing them with a free version of its Worry-Free Remote Manager. She also revealed that SME sales have grown to 25 per cent of total UK revenues, which she claimed grew by more than 30 per cent annually in the first half of 2009.

“I truly believe in small business we now have a stronger proposition than Symantec, McAfee and Sophos so there is no reason why we should shy away from them,” said Hodson.

However, Helen Wood, channel sales director at Symantec, which recently launched a dedicated small business arm (Channelweb, 23 March), argued that Trend was behind the curve.

“Our focus is on ensuring the partners we have fully understand not just the anti-virus piece, where Trend play, but the whole security landscape,” she said.
“We are not interested in signing up thousands of resellers.”