New Security Vendor Ready To Tackle The U.S. Channel

One of the great opportunities found within the trade show circuit is the chance for channel businesses to meet and learn more about new vendors in their space. Such is the case this fall, when a new player on the network security front — a vendor that jokingly says it is the largest security company you've never heard of — starts to meet and greet with IT businesses at industry events. NSFocus, which offers IPS, Web application firewalls, and anti-distributed denial-of-services (DDoS), is going to focus on the latter as it introduces itself to the U.S. market.

The vendor has roots in China, and while it has gained a significant foothold in the Asian markets, it is new to the North American channel. "We didn't want to come to U.S. as just another security appliance vendor," explains Vann Abernethy, North American product manager for NSFOCUS. "Instead, we're going to lead with our DDoS appliance because it offers a solution to the most viable threat out there." A DDoS attack is an attempt to block usage of an Internet resource, and generally consists of an effort that prevents an Internet site or other technology service from functioning. These attacks often target organizations with a lot on the line when it comes to a well-functioning website, such as ecommerce sites.

Abernethy says NSFocus will be looking for VARs and MSPs to partner with as it launches its channel initiative in the U.S., and will then work with them to launch security-as-a-service offerings, leading those partners toward a recurring revenue stream. A key factor in finding the right channel partners, Abernethy says, is to look at those partners' customers. "Any IT business with customers who have a measurable ROI tied to downtime of their website will be a great fit," says Abernethy. "Also, any customer that fears loss of reputation and can't have their Web or network down for those reasons, they are good fit as well. It is less about the size or kind of business than the role the Web plays in their business success." NSFocus opened its first U.S. office in May, and will be on the road much of the fall, including this week's MSPWorld event in Austin.