Is the backup tape half full or half empty at Symantec? On the one hand, CEO Enrique Salem (pictured) is preparing to share his vision at the aptly named Symantec Vision conference. On the other hand, targeted layoffs seem to be under way at Symantec. Here’s the chatter.
TechTarget’s Barb Darrow mentioned rumored Symantec layoffs in an April 5 blog. Then came reports of engineering layoffs, and some speculation that Symantec’s interest in the storage market was fading.
Symantec insists that it remains committed to the storage and availability markets. But plenty of pundits wonder how many jobs (if any) will be lost…
Symantec isn’t scheduled to announce quarterly results until May 5. In the meantime, CEO Enrique Salem and his lieutenants are scheduled to take the spotlight at Symantec Vision 2010, which kicks off April 12 in Las Vegas.
No Hype Here
In recent months, Salem has tried to tactfully balance Symantec’s on-premises and cloud strategies. Instead of hyping cloud opportunities, Salem has stated that SaaS and cloud will generate only about 15 percent of Symantec’s annual revenues over the next few years. Still, that will eventually equate to about $1 billion in annual SaaS/cloud revenues.
Not too shabby. Or is it? Security and storage are two of the most popular SaaS and cloud market opportunities at the moment. Symantec’s online efforts have been hit-n-miss. Anybody else remember the Symantec Protection Network? Hmmm…
Ganging Up on the Giant
No doubt, Symantec faces intensifying competition…
- The McAfee folks seem revitalized by the MX Logic buyout;
- Trend Micro continues to polish its Worry Free SaaS and managed services tools;
- Sophos is preparing a managed services partner program;
- Kaspersky Lab is prepping a small business SaaS strategy;
- The folks at AVG quietly integrate with a range of MSP platforms; and
- Panda won a considerable endpoint security deal with N-able.
That’s quite a list. Did The VAR Guy forget anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Hmmm… Back to the story at hand. Symantec Vision starts April 12. For Enrigue Salem, it’s showtime. Are there any surprises in store? Here’s a prediction: Keep an eye on the Symantec-Amazon relationship.
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> That’s quite a list. Did The VAR Guy forget anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
MailGuard’s managed services platform is going from strength to strength:
* As seen on MSP Mentor, we’ve partnered up with VADIS Systems, a great partnership given their understanding of cloud-based security.
* Our SafeGuard service is providing secure, geographically-redundant archiving (and retrieval) of email without anyone lifting a finger. Just today we’ve released a whitepaper discussing the benefits of archiving email in the cloud
We are also working on some great new offerings that will significantly benefit our customers and widen the revenue opportunities for our partners and resellers.
Our entire focus is on the cloud and on our channel — we don’t compete with ourselves.
Cheers!
Rick Measham
(Director of Product Development at MailGuard)
Rick: The VAR Guy appreciates you tossing the MailGuard brand into the conversation. Our resident blogger tries his best to track as many companies as possible. But sometimes he suffers from a soft brain.
-TVG
G’day TVG,
I can imagine how hard it is and really appreciate all the work you do here. It’s an extraordinary source of industry news, analysis and comment.
Cheers!
Rick Measham
http://www.mailguard.com.au
Just an update with a little detail…I heard they laid off 70 people from the Backup Exec System Recovery team in Utah. I haven’t heard any numbers from the sales side of their house.