'Symantec abandoning large segments of the market' - CrowdStrike CEO says partners are looking for alternative vendors

CrowdStrike sales rocket in Q4

Partners are looking for alternatives to Symantec as its new parent company Broadcom targets just a handful of enterprise customers, according to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz.

On an earnings call, the chief exec said that partners are flooding away from Symantec due to Broadcom's strategy, claiming that one partner submitted a list of "several thousand" customers that it wants to migrate to a new vendor.

"As Broadcom began integrating Symantec, we saw an increase in enquiries among both customers and partners," Kurtz said.

"We believe these dynamics have contributed to an expansion in our pipeline, an acceleration in our overall customer adoption and increased engagement with our partner.

"More specifically on the partner front, we have seen significant demand as they look to protect customers who are left searching for better alternatives as Symantec abandons large segments of the market.

"Several partners in the US and abroad have launched Symantec replacement campaigns. We are closely collaborating with them to put together robust solutions at compelling price points."

Kurtz was talking as CrowdStrike reported an 89 per cent year-on-year surge in revenue for the quarter ending 31 January 2019, up to $150m (£127.5m).

Its share price rose over 20 per cent in after-hours trading, with the vendor now valued at almost $9bn.

The CEO added that CrowdStrike has minimal exposure to the COVID-19 outbreak, with cyber hackers not slowing down and businesses therefore still needing to protect themselves.