McAfee expands focus on growing mid-market strategy

McAfee has announced an increased focus on the rapidly-growing market of security products for mid-sized companies.

McAfee is building out its sales force and retooling its products to better compete for the security business of organisations with 100 to 1 000 users.

McAfee estimates the worldwide mid-market opportunity in 2007 to be about $4.3 billion in revenue. New Secure Internet Gateway and updated Total Protection products support the expanded focus.

"We see a tremendous opportunity in the mid-market, an area we haven't aggressively targeted in the past years," says Chris van Niekerk, regional director: Africa at McAfee.

"With renewed focus on sales and products, we believe we will make significant inroads with mid-sized organisations." Since the beginning of 2007, McAfee has built a mid-market organisation of more than 150 people, including many recruits from rival security vendors. Additionally, new telemarketing teams are helping channel partners in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

McAfee has also put competitive displacement programmes in place to spur growth in sales to mid-market companies. Mid-sized businesses do not have the same resources of an enterprise, but face many of the same increasing security risks.

In addition, mid-market companies do not have a lot of time to spend on security but would like to configure and change policies when needed. McAfee helps by providing enterprise-class functionality in easy-to-deploy and manage products.

"Mid-sized business is one of the fastest growing segments we track and, increasingly, these businesses are looking for a comprehensive security solution that is simple and easy to manage," says Brian Burke, analyst for security products and services at IDC.

"Mid-sized businesses need the same level of protection that large enterprises enjoy, but they don't want to piece together a patchwork of solutions. We see a trend towards integrated security products that are easy to manage." Expanded product family to support the renewed mid-market focus, McAfee has unveiled the Secure Internet Gateway 3000, a new addition to McAfee's family of combined e-mail and Web security appliances, specifically aimed at mid-sized organisations.

The new Secure Internet Gateway 3000 has a lower price tag and supports fewer users, up to 200 per device. Previously, Secure Internet Gateway won the coveted Checkmark Premium Antispam certification from West Coast Labs for blocking over 98% of spam. The Secure Internet Gateway 3000 offers next-generation protection against spam, viruses, spyware, and malicious Web sites in an integrated, affordable and easy-to-manage appliance.

McAfee is the only company with products that offer comprehensive security risk management, by combining threat protection with features that let companies enforce Web access policies. In addition to the Secure Internet Gateway 3000, McAfee's Total Protection offers the flexibility that mid-sized companies need, including onsite or hosted management options. It provides businesses with full coverage and offers hosted security services that include firewall protection and protection against viruses, spyware, spam and phishing, all delivered in one easy-to-install and easy-to-use solution.

Both Secure Internet Gateway 3000 and Total Protection now include McAfee SiteAdvisor to guard against Web-based malware, such as adware, spyware, viruses and phishing scams. While traditional URL filtering products are designed to block access to wasteful or distasteful Web sites, SiteAdvisor cuts across all Web site categories and examines the behaviour of the Web site to determine the level of risk. Even seemingly benign Web sites, such as shopping sites, can be a trap for unwanted spam or pop-ups.

"Adding the ability to filter malicious Web sites gives businesses an extra layer of protection against spam, spyware, and Internet fraud," concludes IDC's Burke.

Availability: Both products are available immediately. For more information, please visit http://www.mcafee.com.