By Robert Westervelt, CRN 12:00 PM EST Mon. May. 13, 2013
Winner: Symantec Symantec’s ability to integrate Vontu and aggressively roll out product enhancements working with its customers gives it a clear edge over McAfee in this category.
McAfee merged its acquisition of SafeBoot for endpoint encryption with its existing data loss prevention products in 2008. The company touts its ability to synchronize with Active Directory, PKI and others, its integration with other McAfee products and its centralized console for managing and enforcing security policies. Symantec added encryption giant PGP to its portfolio in 2010 for data encryption and key management for its data loss prevention suite. The company supports full disk encryption and file and folder encryption and has integrated PGP into its Protection Center for centralized management. Symantec also acquired GuardianEdge for its storage encryption and its Altiris Total Management Suite.
Winner: Draw McAfee partners swear by the company’s SafeBoot foundation, and Symantec partners point to the robustness of PGP and GuardianEdge.
Symantec CEO Steve Bennet is architecting a turnaround, telling CRN that channel partners would be relied on more heavily as it reduces its sales force. Symantec has about 90 channel field sales reps and 130 inside channel sales reps. McAfee said its channel partners generate approximately 80 percent of the company’s revenue. The company has been boosting marketing and outreach and has made subtle improvements, according to channel partners. McAfee has 78 channel field sales reps and 55 inside channel sales reps. Both the Symantec Partner Program and the McAfee SecurityAlliance Partner Program were honored in CRN’s 2013 Partner Program Guide.
Winner: McAfee Symantec revealed an overhaul of its product strategy in January and is reshaping its partner program. Until more details are available, channel partners say McAfee’s steady course makes it a safe bet over Symantec in the near term.
Channel partners that CRN interviewed for this head-to-head sell both Symantec and McAfee products and remain vendor-agnostic for their clients. Symantec’s channel partners tell CRN that McAfee’s program is less complex and in many cases provides higher margins. Symantec’s channel model is more complicated in that it provides multiple ways of registering opportunities, according to one solution provider who requested anonymity. Instead of offering margins up front, Symantec gives rebates on the back end when a deal is closed. Robert Anderson, a principal at New York City-based ingenuIT, said Symantec and McAfee will not give smaller partners the same attention they could get from endpoint security vendors struggling to gain market share. Smaller endpoint providers usually are there to provide more support, he said.
Winner: McAfee Partners interviewed by CRN said McAfee’s program was more profitable. Changes to Symantec’s sales model remain unclear.
Symantec continues to have a strong product portfolio and its mobile security platform has great potential, but McAfee comes out on top by the slightest of margins in CRN’s analysis. McAfee has spent a lot of time attracting third-party technology partners to integrate with its central policy management console, the ePolicy Orchestrator. McAfee is innovating with hardware-based security technologies, and its endpoint encryption is solid. McAfee’s channel program also appears more profitable, partners tell CRN. Symantec will remain a powerhouse for years to come, but the company has not revealed specifics on its strategy overhaul, leaving potential changes to its product road map and channel program unclear.