2011 good for WatchGuard - 2012 to be better?

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 08 December 2011 07:56

IT Industry - Strategy

Security vendor WatchGuard Technologies has enjoyed a good 2011, and its executives seem optimistic about 2012.

WatchGuard Technologies' Asia Pacific region outperformed the rest of the company with 23% growth in the third calendar quarter of 2011 compared with 15% worldwide. Scott Robertson, vice president for Australia and New Zealand, told iTWire that the local growth was mainly due to sales to midmarket customers (those with 500-2000 seats). The company had achieved 120% year-on-year growth in that segment.

"2011 has been a record year for WatchGuard in Australia and New Zealand," he said.

Half of the company's revenue comes from outside the Americas, with 12% from Asia Pacific (including Japan). Australia and New Zealand is the second most important territory in the region (behind South East Asia) and accounts for around a quarter of regional sales. "We're expecting faster growth from Asia Pacific [in 2012]," CEO Joe Wang told iTWire.

The company has experienced very strong growth in Europe - especially in the UK and Germany - during 2011 despite the economic conditions. "We do not see any slowdown in Germany," he said, and pointed out that WatchGuard had seen very good growth in the high end of the UK market even though "it's not historically our sweet spot [which is 50-500 seats]."

Mr Wang said the company had a strong brand in the SME segment, and the UK sales team had focussed on higher-end prospects. "They have been very successful," and securing brand-name customers had increased the momentum. "We're expecting another record quarter from the UK this quarter."

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