NAI to become security ASP over internet

Network Associates has launched a pilot application service provider scheme to deliver network security and applications over the internet.

Network Associates (NAI) has launched a pilot application service provider (ASP) scheme to deliver network security and applications over the internet.

MyCIO.com will provide anti-virus service VirusScan ASaP, intrusion detection service CyberCop ASaP and network monitoring and analysis service Sniffer ASaP. A firewall service will be introduced next month.

Zach Nelson, chief executive of MyCIO.com, said the ASP service will provide for "cost-effective applications that free companies from managing complicated enterprise security and availability software".

The partners appointed for the service will be big players, such as telcos and ISPs. Partners such as BT will manage their customer relationships and billing. Resellers can sell their own additional services but myCIO.com will handle deliveries, and affiliates will receive a commission for referring customers to myCIO.com.

Up to three partners will participate in the UK pilot programme. While the ASP service is proving successful in the US, 95 per cent of NAI sales are still expected to come from packaged boxes, said Nelson. NAI will not use the initiative to streamline its channel, but provide another route to market, he added.

Nelson admitted the skills and knowledge of ASP reseller partners will have to improve.

A representative at Analyser Sales, an NAI reseller, said that while the partnership service could be good for small resellers, the ASP model still needed to stabilise before its impact could be seen.