For F-Secure, the concept of offering security as a service is not a new one. No software company worth its salt could claim to sell its software alone and let their customers struggle on after the deal has been done. This holds particularly true for the antivirus business where constant vigilance and support against the ever-present threats of viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware is the only way to ensure the long term satisfaction of our customers and the quality of the products we offer. A good antivirus product without the full back-up of service provision 24/7 is not a product that will succeed over time.
Taken from this perspective, we at F-Secure see all our product sales as a form of partnership with our customers from the channel partners who sell our products forward to the home PC user, through small and medium-sized businesses all the way through to large corporations who use them. For all of these different types of end users it is essential that the security technology they use is fulfilling its purpose, in other words provide an always on always alert security environment. Increasingly they find the solution to be an external service provider that has the skills, technology, processes and business models to meet and exceed their needs. From our own perspective, F-Secure wants to ensure that its technology is a good fit for all our partners business purposes, who not only sell our technology and skills forward, but also offers security as a service to their customers. We are confident in our ability to solve any issues that may arise.
So, for some time now, F-Secure has been developing the business model of Security as a Service in various countries and with selected top Service Providers in the industry and with notable success. Collaboration with such winning companies as TietoEnator and Fujitsu Services in pilot schemes in Finland means that F-Secure has now committed to driving the full-scale provision of its support services across a broader international base and the enormous interest for it has surprised even us at F-Secure.
What exactly, however, does the provision of Security as a Service actually mean? The offering for service partners consist of a set of tailor-made and designed F-Secure Service Platform technologies combined with a business model and professional services to support and enhance the value chain of the service providers. Effectively, F-Secure partners with the proper commitment to providing security services to its customer base will be able to offer Security as a Service to larger customers on a yearly subscription basis with all the back-up of support services provided by F-Secure. One instance is the latest addition to the Security as a Service offering which is the F-Secure® Service Platform for Enterprises. Service partners using the platform are entitled to additional benefits and services. These include the provision of a dedicated technical account manager, 24/7 phone support, an extra layer of know-how provided by a third-level support team as well as critical account handling, when needed.
We believe that putting ourselves in the leadership position when it comes to serving and partnering up with all types of service providers creates a chain-of-trust and excellent service not only for our partners but also for their end users. We think that the outsourcing and service business has been neglected and are committed to doing our part to make IT security efficient, flexible, fast and proactive for end user organizations. In our view, this can be achieved with strong partnerships and a world-class service offering Security as a Service. We are confident that the concept of selling security as a service will set the role model for other antivirus companies too, especially thanks to F-Secures approach to take service providers and their business, delivery and infrastructure models as the baseline for service provider solutions and hence being able to truly meet and exceed the requirements of the IT and security services business model.
Indeed, F-Secure is widely recognized as a top performer when it comes to content security research, publishing automatic updates and supporting its valued partners. By utilizing the Security as a Service offering and its business and technical components a service provider can truly create a competitive advantage and easily subscribable managed security offering.
In this edition of Protected we will examine one particular case of Security as a Service partner using the F-Secure® Service Platform for Enterprises with Fujitsu Services as a working example of our business concept. In addition, we will take a look at some of our latest products, namely F-Secure Mobile Anti-Virus for Windows and the Internet Service Provider product, Service Platform for Consumers with integrated antispyware and view the virus world through the eyes of F-Secures Chief Research Officer, Mikko Hyppönen.
And with the much-anticipated launch of F-Secure Internet Security 2006 coming up shortly in October, we also provide you with a small pause for thought about your responsibility as a parent to ensure that your children not only enjoy safe surfing on the web but that they are also regulated as to the time they spend there. With the Internet fast becoming the screen view of choice over television, F-Secure has decided to provide parents with the means to ensure that children are not exposed to inappropriate sites or surfing endlessly for hours when they should be doing their homework.
We hope you enjoy this edition of Protected and look forward to a prosperous and lively autumn together with you our customers.
Author: Mark Woods, Corporate Communicator
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