Not Just For The Big Fish, Symantec Helps SMBs Curb Spam
Norton AntiSpam supports filtering for Yahoo, MSN and Hotmail accounts. The software also supports list synchronization. In other words, whitelisted e-mail addresses are automatically synchronized with either Microsoft Outlook's or Eudora's address books. This feature helps ensure that legitimate mail does not fall under the false-positive category, and that spam blocked from one e-mail account does not show up in a user's secondary account. Norton AntiSpam 2005 uses adaptive learning technology along with Symantec's smart filter technology, which examines acceptable e-mails and automatically builds customized e-mail filtering rules for each user.
Ease of use is crucial for products such as this, since they help reduce technical support calls and make users more efficient. Norton AntiSpam excels in this area. The product is easy to install and use. Symantec has eliminated technical jargon and focused on the key features creating an extremely user-friendly product. This is doubly important since most users disable security products that are difficult to use or that get in the way of productivity, and SMBs often do not have the budget or the IT staff necessary to walk users through setup and use of a complex product.
Beyond ease of use, solution providers will find the product integrates several productivity-enhancing technologies. Norton AntiSpam offers language-based filtering, which blocks messages written in specific languages. This feature can eliminate messages from foreign countries, which are a growing source of malicious spam. A pop-up blocker is also included to prevent unsolicited content from appearing in a browser. Although Norton AntiSpam offers the best integration with Microsoft Outlook and Eudora e-mail applications, solution providers can use the product with almost any POP3 e-mail client by using proxy technology. Simply put, Norton AntiSpam works as a local mail server, routing all incoming and outgoing mail to users' preferred accounts. Installers simply direct local e-mail applications to process incoming and outgoing e-mail from Norton AntiSpam's mail store. This type of implementation offers additional protection against malicious code and viruses, and also reduces false positives.
Symantec's LiveUpdate ensures that the latest patches, rules and signatures are integrated into the product. Norton AntiSpam includes a one-year subscription to the LiveUpdate feature. Solution providers have the option to sell additional updates for added revenue. Norton AntiSpam also uses online activation to prevent piracy and cut down on the number of illegal copies of the software. It also helps solution providers sell additional copies of the product. Symantec's Norton AntiSpam 2005 is a valuable add-on for any corporate system not protected by a companywide antispam system.
Symantec restructured its global channel program in May 2004 to better map partner categories to customer market segments and more closely align the program with partners' customer focus. The newly revamped partner categories—Enterprise Security Partner, Enterprise Administration Partner, Enterprise Solutions Partner, Enterprise Sales Partner, Premier Software Partner and Software Partner—are now based on a reseller's business model and customer base. Margins average 7 percent to 14 percent. Symantec's online partner portal, PartnerPromos, provides access to ongoing promotions, incentives, rebates and preapproved collateral materials. A section of the online portal called PartnerMarketing develops co-branded direct mail and e-mail campaigns targeted at specific customer bases. Symantec offers free Web-based sales training to all partners, and traditional instructor-led training is also available.
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