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Ric Benjamin, enterprise sales manager at Southern Cross Computer Services (SCCS), has been working with managed security vendor Network Box for about a year. Customers were getting keener on enterprise data security, he says.
 
“We had expertise in firewall, anti-virus, web content filtering and so forth but we technically only had part of a solution,” he says. “Customers were asking us to provide more and more support.”
 
SCCS approached Network Box with a view to developing a more whole, complementary service offering. Network Box gave SCCS access to economies of scale for efficiently delivering managed security services, Benjamin says.
 
Instead of tailoring a specific solution for each customer, SCCS resells one of Network Box’s offerings to maximise its return. It has worked well so far and is definitely a growing part of SCCS’ business, Benjamin says.
 
SCCS warns that customers are not necessarily expecting third-party involvement. The big thing is developing a trusting relationship among all parties, he says.
 
“We lead the deal but Network Box assists if necessary,” Benjamin says. “That might include taking the customer out to Doncaster [Melbourne] and giving them a sense of what it would be like to engage with Network Box.”
 
SCCS works with Network Box to ensure the products are properly configured from the start. "We rack-mount it and connect it up and ensure it’s working but once that’s finalised, they really then deal directly with Network Box,” Benjamin says.
 
Andrew Tune, director of Network Box, says few vendors have taken a unified, streamlined approach to security services provision. Keeping costs down is key, especially for smaller customers. Many providers have offered services with a price tag of $20,000 or more every month -- a cost totally unaffordable for most SMBs. Network Box can do similar stuff for around $2500 a month, he says.
 
Network Box’s global reach means resellers get the best chance of making decent recurring revenue. “We’re like Foxtel,” he says. “They sell you a set-top box in order to provide a service. But there are five different boxes.”
 
Managed security lets users get updates faster and more cheaply. Customers choose the type of SLA they require, the response time and maintenance options they need. And the model works: Network Box claims customers with anywhere from one to 210,000 users, including Nintendo, Toyota and Amnesty International. And that is all done through channel partners, Tune says.
 
Tim Dickinson, country manager at SonicWall, says SMB demand for managed security is booming. “The worldwide market for managed security services is estimated to reach over US$20 billion by 2007,” he says.
 
When considering this model, resellers must take stock of their own capabilities and security expertise. They need to invest in infrastructure and staff to provide the high quality of service customers are now demanding, he says.
 
However, any reseller can still partner an existing SonicWall specialist managed security provider. SonicWall will also help resellers choose what best suits the individual company and offers ongoing training.
 
“More customers are requesting SLAs that bundle the ongoing cost of the DSL connection with management and licensing of firewall appliances and services,” Dickinson says. “Time and again, we’re hearing them say ‘make it easy for us’ and ‘keep the cost down’.”
 
SonicWall has developed a global management services console that it believes helps resellers manage and update large numbers of appliances remotely from a central location. Rather than take a “one-size-fits-all” approach, resellers should offer various options and tailor their offering, he claims.
 
“It is all about recurring revenues at high margin to ensure a sound return on investment,” Dickinson says.
 
“The internet has clearly changed the competitive landscape for businesses of every shape and form. This explosion has led to the widespread use of intranets, extranets, application service providers (ASPs) and business-to-business exchanges, creating a tremendous need for networking services.”

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