BullGuard bolsters A/NZ offering

Internet Security 8.0 is the latest product offering from Danish security vendor, BullGuard. The release in A/NZ is part of a go-to-market strategy aimed at formalising its presence in the region. Recently recruiting Australian distributor, Saratoga, BullGuard is also aligned with Ingram Micro and Intellitron.

Strengthening channel relationships is the main focus for A/NZ, said Bronwyn Gascoigne, sales manager for Australia and New Zealand at BullGuard. An advocate of BullGuard channel initiatives, Gascoigne claimed that 40 percent of renewal revenue is being invested back into the channel, with 15 percent allocated to distributors and 25 percent going to resellers.

“It’s a channel program with cash incentives,” said Gascoigne. “We believe that this will help partners grow and there will be a return for the customer, which benefits us as more people use BullGuard.”

Featuring anti-virus, firewall, online back-up, anti-spyware and a spam filter, BullGuard Internet Security 8.0 is designed for the home user and small business. Selling points include a five gigabyte online back-up drive and improved firewall and spam filter engines.

Benjamin Verduijin, PR and technology consultant at BullGuard, told the story of how the company formed when two friends who had completed their respective degrees decided to simplify security for the end-user. Since then, BullGuard has expanded into the UK market where it experienced significant traction and is now looking to make the same impact in A/NZ.

“BullGuard was designed with the end-user in mind,” said Verduijin. “The idea was to make security more understandable.”

Brand awareness is an important issue as the vendor takes on the mammoth task of competing with established security providers in Australia like Symantec and McAfee. The bulldog mascot features heavily in BullGuard channel initiatives such as remote access to support services.

“We have users who refer to BullGuard as a friend,” said Verduijin.

“People are ready for a new vendor in the Internet security space … we were the first in the security market to provide remote access support, which I believe gives us a key competitive advantage,” added Gascoigne.