Briefs: March 6, 2006

BELL MICRO LAUNCHES SERVICES UNIT

Secure Data Group will be more services-oriented than TotalTec, Bell Microproducts’ existing single-tier unit that has more of a hardware and software focus, Illson said. “It’s a different set of solutions targeted at C-level executives. As we get it up and running, there will be opportunities to cross-pollinate to TotalTec customers,” he said.

Opportunities also may exist to leverage Bell Micro’s distribution customers, he said.

Secure Data Group will be led by Ed Ginty, who put together the business plan and compiled the resources that will comprise the company. “Being aligned with a company like Bell Microproducts brings a level of credibility with customers as well as when you’re trying to recruit top people,” Ginty said.

FREE STUFF: D-LINK PLANS UTM APPLIANCE GIVEAWAY FOR VARs
D-Link last week spiced up the upcoming launch of its NetDefend unified threat management (UTM) appliance by revealing plans to give a free UTM appliance to VARs who buy one of the vendor’s VPN firewall or gateway products.

Partners who buy a D-Link Rackmount VPN Firewall (DFL-1600), D-Link Desktop VPN Firewall (DFL-800) or D-Link Application Security Gateway (DFL-M510) will receive a free NetDefend UTM appliance, which incorporates security technology from CheckPoint Software.

The appliance, which comes in wireless and wired models, will ship sometime this quarter, according to a D-Link spokesperson. The appliance is aimed at businesses with up to 100 seats and includes features such as gateway-based virus protection, intrusion prevention and content filtering.

RSA LAUNCHES FIRST CYOTA AUTHENTICATION SOLUTION
RSA said it has completed the first phase of its integration with security firm Cyota, which the company acquired back in December.

The first integrated product that was launched provides a layered authentication solution designed to meet the needs of financial services companies.

Called RSA Adaptive Authentication, the integrated product is designed to allow organizations to tailor authentication schemes according to the risk associated with certain activities or preferences of customers.

It allows for transparent, risk-based authentication, coupled with one-time password-based authentication for groups of higher-risk or security-sensitive customers.

It also includes optional digital watermarks for reverse authentication and back-end transaction monitoring.

As part of the integration, RSA has added a feature that allows financial institutions to shift between methods of authentication and change the segmentation of users. The feature, automatically generated by the RSA Cyota risk engine, identifies and recommends which customers may be suited to stronger forms of authentication based on their usage and behavior patterns.

GATEWAY TO PAY HP $47 MILLION IN PATENT DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Hewlett-Packard and Gateway last Wednesday said they had settled all outstanding patent litigation, with Gateway paying HP a total of $47 million and revising 2005 results to reflect the deal.

The settlement resolves claims in three federal court lawsuits, three International Trade Commission investigations and one state court suit. HP had asserted infringement of 27 patents by Gateway, while Gateway and its subsidiaries claimed infringement of 13 patents by HP.

Gateway said it would revise its results for 2005 to take a $16.7 million charge to reflect the settlement, lowering 2005 net income to $32.8 million from the $49.5 million previously reported.

Gateway estimated the cost of the seven-year, cross-license portion of the deal at $4.3 million a year and said it would save $12 million in 2006 litigation costs that had been previously budgeted.

XO COMMUNICATIONS TO REWARD TOP-PERFORMING PARTNERS
XO Communications last week unveiled an improved channel program that provides a range of new incentives for the telecommunications service provider’s partners.

XO’s Business Partner Channel program offers more targeted compensation and recognition for partners who consistently bring in business, said Phil Brenner, executive director of marketing at XO.

It includes a commission structure designed to reflect partner performance in terms of installation and monthly revenue, which allows top-performing partners to earn annual bonuses, Brenner said.

Partners will have the ability to provide their customers with a guaranteed install date for service, which XO has added to its channel program to help build customer confidence, according to Brenner.

Last month, XO held the inaugural meeting of its partner advisory council, which was formed to get feedback from national partners and will meet four times a year.

WESTCON ROLLS OUT SECURITY, CONVERGENCE PROGRAMS
Westcon Group is rolling out new programs for its Comstor, Voda One and Westcon business units to help solution providers develop core competencies in convergence, mobility and security, according to the distributor.

The Comstor OneVoice and OneDefense programs, as well as Voda One ConvergencePoint and Westcon ConvergencePoint, are based on similar programs in Europe. They will feature identical interfaces to help guide solution providers through the process of marketing and selling the technologies, said Duncan Potter, vice president of worldwide marketing at Westcon Group.

“This is signaling a move from Westcon Group to be far more focused and to give our customers a tool kit to take advantage of high-growth, high-value opportunities,” Potter said. “These programs are built around a common philosophy, a common infrastructure. If a customer is really focused on convergence and wants to start examining security, he will have familiar tools to exploit that opportunity as well.

The programs are built around the Avaya, Cisco Systems and Nortel platforms, but also include complementary third-party products, Potter said. Westcon Group will help solution providers build road maps for the process of creating selling practices in convergence, security and mobility, he said.

“Here’s some training, some product knowledge you need to build the business. As you get into developing the solution and you have an architecture and a framework, we’ll show you how to evaluate and execute on those leads,” he said.