Security software vendor, Symantec has unveiled a new strategy that it says will streamline and simplify the company so it can deliver improved performance for customers and partners.
According to Steve Bennett, Symantec president and CEO, the vendor wants to enable people, businesses and countries to focus their energies and time on achieving their aspirations, instead of being consumed with how to keep their digital lives safe and protected.
"This is a story about more focus and better execution by Symantec to make things better and easier for our customers and partners. Our path is straightforward - offer better products and services tailor-made for customers, and make it easier for them to research, shop, buy, use and get the help and support they need."
Higher-value offerings
Symantec says its goal is to continue to improve its existing products and services, and at the same time develop new, innovative products and services that solve important unmet or underserved needs.
The vendor says it is focusing on 10 key areas that combine existing products and services into new solutions that meet multiple customer needs with integrated and higher-value offerings. It expects the overall development process to take six to 24 months, depending on the specific offering.
According to Symantec, these future offerings are intended to meet three key customer needs - making it simple to be productive and protected at home and work; keeping businesses safe and compliant; and keeping business information and applications up and running.
As such, Symantec is focusing on and considering the development of offerings in the following core areas - Mobile Workforce Productivity, Norton Protection, Norton Cloud, Information Security Services, Identity/Content-Aware Security Gateway, Data Centre Security, Business Continuity, Integrated Backup, Cloud-Based Information Management, and Object Storage Platform.
"Customers will still be able to pick and choose the solutions they want to use, but from a broader menu of innovative products with higher value," Bennett says. "We're not offering packages that they have to take or leave. Customers can still decide what's right for them and buy accordingly, but have the added option of migrating to new, integrated offerings, which provide added flexibility we know they will need to combat constantly evolving threats, particularly via mobile and the cloud."
R&D boost
In order to continue delivering value to customers in the future, Symantec says it will increase its investment in research and development and home-grown innovation to better meet next-generation needs.
Symantec will also establish strategic partnerships so it can integrate what it does with other solutions to add even more value for customers. It explains this will help customers stay ahead of increasing information and protection challenges at the endpoint, network and data centre levels.
"There is a huge set of underserved and unmet needs that customers are experiencing with regards to protecting, moving and managing their information on multiple devices," continues Bennett.
"With our resources and know-how, we are in a better position to meet those needs than anyone. We have the infrastructure to deliver real value to help customers, and this new strategy will improve both our focus and execution. We also have the expertise to know and see what they're going to need next. It's a question of alignment and regaining focus on the current and future needs of customers via a renewed emphasis on innovation plus developing new technology."
In terms of operations and organisation, Symantec says its sales process will continue to rely heavily on the channel to manage current customers and free up its sales force to focus on generating new business. It adds the company will also enhance the marketing organisation with more strategic resources and capability to accelerate focus and organic growth.
Office of the CEO
Symantec has also created a new office of the CEO. It notes that a small team of executives (CFO, president of products and services, and COO) has been established to make collective operational and functional decisions with Bennett on a daily basis.
The CEO will also get direct reports based on function (such as HR, finance, legal, etc) and from sales geography leaders, it notes, adding that a group of extended staff - including the chief officers of functions such as IT, marketing, communications and technology - will also report to the CEO.
Regarding financial implications, Symantec says that, as it executes on its strategy and operational plan, it is committed to deliver more than 5% organic revenue growth and non-GAAP operating margins better than 30% over the next two to three years.
"The coming year will include significant transitions as we begin to improve our growth capabilities, establish a dedicated renewals team, refocus our direct field sales representatives on new business, and eliminate duplicative organisation and operating structures. As such, we expect organic revenue growth between 0% and 2% in FY14."
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