Tech Data, Symantec Join To Offer Business Security Suite

Tech Data has partnered with Symantec to offer two security products, both aimed at shielding businesses, their networks and devices from online threats.

Symantec Cloud Workload Protection – designated CWP -- and Symantec Endpoint Protection Mobile, also known as SEP Mobile, were released Monday on Tech Data’s StreamOne Cloud Marketplace.

’We’ve been partnering with Symantec for many years now around their cloud strategy, and we’ve been more closely aligned around future roadmap enhancements,’ Tracy Holtz director, Security and Information Management, at Tech Data told CRN. ’That’s where we’ve been partnering together to bring to market the cloud workplace protection as well as the SEP Mobile solution integrated into StreamOne. What that means for our partners, is that they can consume the technology as well as provision it to their end clients, and then bill monthly for the solution through our marketplace.’

Cloud Workload Protection works with the three big public cloud platforms, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Tech Data will offer the product through annual pricing models, as well as pay-for-use. Holtz said Symantec CWP allows organizations to secure and monitor their critical workloads wherever they are—public clouds, private clouds, and physical, on-premises data centers— from a single intuitive console.

’Now we’re expanding Symantec’s cloud footprint in the marketplace with the addition of cloud workplace protection as well as the end point protection mobile solution, SEP Mobile,’ she said.

’In a hybrid cloud infrastructure, the need for a multi level security approach is significant. You can’t protect what you can’t see. Being in a hyper cloud infrastructure consumption model, a single cloud security application being layered on to that provides a tremendous security protection.’

The mobile product targets threats to iOS and Android devices that are on the company’s network. Holtz said traditionally, the threat to IT infrastructure that is posed by mobile phones was limited to executives who required the devices for work. Now she said with companies employing a more mobile workforce, as well as offering Wi-Fi for employees who bring their devices to work, the danger has multiplied, and with it the challenge of securing those potential openings.

’If you’re in an open Wi-Fi network and you’re allowing contractors or you’re allowing third parties that are integrated into being onsite in a corporate infrastructure … you’re taking quite a bit of risk around compromised devices, or even just the ability for a device to get compromised. It's amazing the amount of individual users that leave their Wi-Fi open to cellular devices,’ Holtz said. ’So to be able to have SEP mobile installed and actively protecting those mobile devices from open Wi-Fi networks, compromised devices, is a phenomenal opportunity for corporate infrastructure to keep secure.’

Tech Data and Symantec -- which have been partners for 20 years – said the new products help customers migrate to the cloud more securely.

’As organizations embrace cloud-based applications, they introduce new exposures to their organization,’ Torjus Gylstorff, vice president, Worldwide Partner Sales, Symantec, said in a statement. ’By adding Cloud Workload Protection and SEP Mobile to Tech Data’s StreamOne Cloud Marketplace, organizations have more access to best-in-class technology combined with value added services to get up and running quickly and take full advantage of the cloud generation.’