Sophos, which has recently been charging headlong into the managed security services space as MSP Today recently reported, this week boasted of its broadest Unified Threat Management (UTM) tool to date.
The newly available Sophos UTM Connected has increased coverage for wireless and more Web and cloud features.
In fact, the company claims it is the first UTM to have endpoint, gateway and cloud protection all together in one tool.
“As the complexities of securing all networks have grown, so have the struggles for businesses to fully optimize the many point security solutions they have purchased. A UTM is the proven solution to address this problem; however, most simply put layers of protection on a single appliance,” Sophos said. “The introduction of Web in Endpoint functionality lets Sophos UTM go a stage further and make security layers communicate and combine to deliver more effective protection. This approach simplifies user experience and delivers a higher level of overall protection on which customers can rely.”
The idea behind the tool is to let IT admins safeguard endpoints outside the company’s walls and not directly attach to the corporate network.
IDC analyst Charles Kolodgy has been briefed and sees value in the UTM combo pack. “Small businesses face many of the same security challenges as do large enterprises – a distributed workforce and doing more with fewer resources,” said Kolodgy, research vice president of IDC. “With Sophos UTM Connected, these businesses have a single consolidated security solution, one that allows them to deploy an endpoint client that synchronizes with their gateway Web policy. Web security becomes easier to configure and stronger as a result.”
One Sophos MSP partner sees the tool as a good match for today’s shifting workforce. “It will provide considerable benefit to customers, in particular, businesses with distributed workforces,” said Sam Heard, president of Data Integrity Services of the new UTM. “Businesses need to ensure their employees are protected against Web-based threats, and employees want ultra-fast wired and wireless connectivity; this makes Sophos UTM Connected a win/win for the entire organization.”
Gartner Gifts
Sophos has the unique distinction of having been called magic five times by Gartner in the last three years.
In 2010 and 2012, Sophos was in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for UTM.
In 2011, the company was in three quadrants, for Endpoint Protection Platforms, Mobile Data Protection and Secure Email Gateways.
The MSP Plan
Sophos believes it has a lot to offer MSPs, starting with a broad array of ways to protect networks and users.
It also argues that MSPs can use the Sophos tools to become “a trusted advisor and critical partner in your customers IT security strategy. Increase your value and stickiness by integrating deeper across more points within your customers IT infrastructure,” the company argued.
On the pure economic front, Sophos thinks MSPs can make money by “moving beyond selling just a license to selling a service with a recurring revenue stream. You can also take advantage of flexible volume licensing, and monthly billing options to further optimize your cash flow and profits,” Sophos said.
Sophos tools for MSPs include Unified Threat Management, e-mail protection, and mobile device security.
Tired of reading about Sophos? Check out this TMC video interview instead.
TMC also recently reported that Sophos’ mobile device management (MDM) tools are now used to protect over a million devices. Part of this oomph comes from last year’s acquisition of MDM vendor Dialogs.
Edited by
Alisen Downey
