Proofpoint, PSS Get In The Content Filtering Game

Last week, Proofpoint, Cupertino, Calif., and PSS Systems, Palo Alto, Calif., each launched initiatives in these areas directly aimed at the channel.

Proofpoint, which earlier this month launched an offering called Protection Server that scans e-mail for content in violation of corporate policies, launched the Proofpoint Partner Network for resellers, integrators and consultants.

Charter PPN members include Binary Research, Corporate Technologies, ETSec, Primitive Logic, Software Spectrum and Vinitech, and the network potentially touches more than 1,900 customers.

The Proofpoint Protection Server is being positioned initially as an anti-spam solution for filtering e-mail content. But company executives note that unlike other antispam solutions, Proofpoint's offering also can be extended to monitor e-mail communications to make sure employees are complying with HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley Act regulations.

"We think this difference gives resellers a significant upsell opportunity," said Greg Smirin, Proofpoint's vice president of marketing. "The antispam market is pretty overwhelming already, so we have a huge number of leads we can't deal with. But we want to make sure those leads get acted on, so we built this network."

Proofpoint is the brainchild of Chairman Eric Hahn, who is credited with being an early e-mail pioneer with Netscape and cc:Mail.

The company is attractive to ETSec as a partner because of its ability to be applied across many different scenarios, said Susan Lutz, CEO of ETSec, Mount Laurel, N.J. "We really needed a solution that would scale for clients regardless of the regulatory environment it is being applied in."

Separately, PSS Systems last week launched PSS1, a tool that ensures documents anywhere on a network comply with industry regulations and corporate policies.

"Our goal is to create an ecosystem of consultants focused on regulations in various industries," said Gary Kinghorn, director of marketing.

PSS partners include the Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Government Solutions Group and Morgan Franklin.