WatchGuard acquisition, ANZ sales up

Peter Dinham
Wednesday, 05 August 2009 09:04

Business IT - Technology

According to WatchGuard, no immediate changes will be made to BorderWare product offerings, customer support and channel programs, and future new products from WatchGuard or BorderWare will be announced when they become available.
 
In Australia and New Zealand, Scott Robertson says the company has ignored the global financial crisis with its increase in sales revenue, including a 200 per cent hike in sales of its Firebox X Peak high performance line of Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances among local companies.

“With or without an economic slowdown, companies have shown that they still need to ensure that they have the proper security in place to safeguard their businesses.  At the same time, we’re seeing plans made to bolster network security as we emerge from the downturn yet face ever-evolving network threats.”
 
Robertson also announced that, as part of its program to further advance momentum in the Australian and New Zealand market, WatchGuard plans to recruit at least 10 new partners and to further leverage its regional distributor relationships with Firewall Systems, WhiteGolN Solutions, Exeed and Pactec.

“We’re looking to recruit reseller partners that can prove strong skills in selling best-of-breed security solutions and have a motivated team who would relish the opportunity to foster a strong, dynamic and mutually beneficial relationship.  These organisations may also have heightened expertise in VoIP which would be particularly attractive to WatchGuard right now.

"As organisations continue to converge networks and adopt VoIP, businesses both large and small will have to evolve their security architecture to ensure that their customers, users and data are safe from VoIP threats.”

Robertson said WatchGuard had also launched a new brand marketing campaign - “Get RED, Get SecuRED” – which he said takes advantage of the “distinctive red colouring associated with its best-selling UTM firewall appliances.”

According to Robertson, over the next few months, WatchGuard will roll out an integrated communications program for Australia and New Zealand, including advertising, direct marketing, sales promotions and events, aimed at “bolstering the company’s brand marketing presence in the region.”