Symantec Broadens SMB Protection Services

Symantec's expansion of its SMB security and protection services in the latest edition of its Protection Suite, aims to offer a single-vendor solution for small and midsized business security, protection, endpoint, messaging, mobile, backup and recovery.The emphasis on protection in the latest iteration of Symantec Protection Suite, Advanced Business Edition provides another glimpse of the emphasis the company -- along with others in the market -- is placing on single-provider solutions to an array of small and midsized business security, device monitoring, backup and recovery needs.

With small and midsized business downtime running, conservatively, around $15,000 a day, the bet is that investment in soup-to-nuts security, protection, recovery services (along with other SaaS offerings as add-ons) will find a ready market, even in sluggish or uncertain economic times.

Symantec's expanded approach, integrating technologies and tools acquired when it bought MessageLabs a couple of years ago, due for release this summer, will offer tiers including, at the top of the line:

Endpoint: anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, intrusion prevention, device and app control

Messaging: e-mail and IM virus, spam, phishing, botnet and spyware protection

Backup and Recovery: desktop, laptop, server backup and recovery

The Protection Suite Advanced Business Edition provides the full array, priced at $67.58 (annual) per seat for 50 seats.

The Small Business Edition offers desktop backup and recovery, anti-virus, spam and phishing protection for 25 seats at $42.98 per seat.

The barer bones Small Business edition (10 seats at $34.99 per seat)covers anti-virus and basic threat protection needs.

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