McAfee: Channel uncertainty over and opportunities ahead

Security vendor's channel boss talks up branding and product benefits for VARs following Intel mega-merger

McAfee has claimed to be "fully committed" to its channel following the company's 2011 acquisition by the world's largest chip maker, Intel.

The $7.7bn (£4.9bn) cash deal that was finalised last March led to initial uncertainty within the security vendor's partners, according to EMEA vice president for channel and global sales David Small.

Speaking to ChannelWeb at a McAfee press summit in Marbella, he said: "Any change creates some uncertainty, that is just what happens.

"I do not think people were uncertain about McAfee, we are a $2.5bn company, and having the backing of a $54bn parent reassures in terms of us being here for the long term. Intel is now the seventh-rated brand globally, up there with Coca Cola - how can that be a problem?"

The launch of jointly developed Intel and McAfee products such as DeepSafe, a so-called hardware-assisted product aimed at blocking advanced persistent threats, is thought to have eased the minds of partners.

"As we have executed on starting to deliver on products, our partners absolutely get why this matters and they see it as a huge opportunity," added Small. "We have absolutely reassured the channel that we are fully committed to what we are doing with them and that we are driving change.

"The biggest benefit of the Intel acquisition is that there is a whole set of new products, which is an absolute first. We are the only people that can do hardware-assisted security at the end point. From that will come a series of other developments which will change the face of security as we know it, and that is pretty radical."

Small (pictured) conceded that the benefits of the merger may not be immediately obvious to some smaller or services-led partners. But the channel boss maintained that the Intel deal will ultimately provide a boost to the security giant's entire channel.

"There are clearly partners in our landscape that have nothing to do with shipping hardware as they are either very niche or consultant-type companies and so on," he explained. [But] it is not as if we are saying to a specialist partner 'you have to ship Intel'. It's not like that. It is about creating opportunities for partners through products," he said.

"I do not think anybody has been put off - even those sorts of organisations get what we are doing and see the new products coming in. It is a big opportunity for them and there really is no downside. I do not think there would be a single partner who would say it is not for them."