It “makes no sense” for the channel and small businesses to ignore the security market, Alvea has said, speaking with ChannelEye.
Recent research from channel analyst house Canalys suggests that the security industry is growing 10 percent year-on-year. According to Alvea, however, it can be tough for small businesses to stay on top of the ever changing security landscape, especially in a difficult economic climate.
The comments come as it launches its Managed Network Security service in the UK and Ireland.
Managed Network Security, which is the latest addition to the company’s services portfolio, is designed to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) protect their networks from security threats and will be sold through the firm’s channel partners.
Neil Gardner (pictured), professional services development and operations manager at Alvea Services, pointed out that although it is urgent for SMBs and channel players to keep up with current threats, it can cost serious money and time.
Gardner told ChannelEye the company can help channel partners keep up with these threats thanks to its relationship with distributor Computerlinks. Although the Alvea brand is an independent service, it is supported by technical expertise and infrastructure from Computerlinks.
“Computerlinks has been in this industry for over 20 years and has an office built around a range of engineers and techies who keep up with the day-to-day threats in the security market,” Gardner said.
“Therefore what we offer our partners can be better than our competitors. Either a fully managed service contracted to us or a managed support package run by the partner.
“We want to give our partners an a la carte package, where they can also mix and match services. If we look at the competitor landscape we at best match prices with our rivals. However we offer a better service,” he said.
The new service includes both a firewall and a Virtual Private Network (VPN) delivered on a choice of hardware security appliances.
According to the company, the range of appliances available within the Managed Network Security service ensures that resellers can select the product that is best suited to their customer’s network requirements. They can also offer consultancy skills to customers to ensure the provision of the right level of protection and investment.
As businesses grow, resellers have the scope to add new service modules.
Alvea said this gives them the chance to remain in constant contact with customers, hold regular service reviews and foster a long-term relationships that may lead to additional sales opportunities.
Resellers can also offer the option of a managed security service to their customer bases without incurring the high costs of becoming a managed service provider themselves.
