Kaspersky lines up ducks for enterprise assault

New partner programme, new virtualisation technology and swanky new office for security vendor as it eyes enterprise glory

Kaspersky Lab is counting on an office move, a partner programme refresh and new virtualisation technology to transform its fortunes in the UK enterprise space.

The security vendor claims its new pan-European partner scheme offers partners a stronger focus on education, higher margins and greater specialism.

Its launch forms part of a wider enterprise push for Kaspersky alongside the launch of KSV Light agent - its first virtualisation security solution optimised for Microsoft and Citrix customers - and its move to a swanky new European HQ in Paddington.

Sales, marketing and digital staff begun moving into the new pad (pictured) this week after a six-month delay caused by a change in the building's landlord. Some 126 staff are set to migrate across over the next month, including some top brass from Russia, but the office has a capacity of 160.

UK managing director Kirill Slavin told CRN moving UK staff from Abbingdon to central London would make a "huge difference" to Kaspersky's enterprise ambitions.

"Enterprise sales requires contact with the end user," Slavin (pictured, bottom) said. "If you set up a meeting with a major high-street bank they won't come to you once they realise your office is in the middle of nowhere. We're also the European hub now, so we must be near Heathrow."

The new partner programme puts a greater emphasis on education and discipline, said Lee Sharrocks, UK sales director of consumer and SMB at Kaspersky.

All partners from Silver level up are now required to have one Kaspersky certified engineer, one certified sales person and one employee certified in one of the vendor's new specialisations, which include virtualisation. Partner specialisations will then be displayed within the programme using a new shield certification system.

"We are making sure we are properly recognising our partners' internal structures so we can map onto them better," Sharrocks explained.

"If we get all that education and training right, we probably offer three to four times margins of any other security vendor in that space, so it's a very compelling offer for resellers."

A few years back, Kaspersky bullishly set out ambitions to become a top-three security vendor but has toned down the rhetoric in recent years as its growth slowed.

But Sharrocks claimed the vendor is still growing ahead of the market.

"When those statements were made we were about the eighth largest security vendor globally and now we are the fourth," he said. "We are now in the leaders' quadrant with Gartner so we are gaining the whole time and the focus on enterprise will feed into the next stage of growth. We may not be shouting about it as much but you can see the timeline of how we got to where we are and you can see some of our competitors struggling."

Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Kaspersky distributor Wick Hill, said the new programme offers higher margins for partners who drive enterprise business for the vendor.

"Partners do make really good margins with Kaspersky and there's not the same kind of margin attrition you get with other vendors," he said.