By Simon Quicke

10 October 2008

The security market is likely to remain a beacon for resellers despite the downturn because of the need for customer vigilance against mounting threats.

But that is not a reason for security resellers to rest on their laurels and Jan Hichert, CEO at Astaro will use its partner conference today and this weekend in Lisbon as a reminder of the need to continue delivering value.

‘Resellers have to [deliver] higher quality because otherwise the customers could do it themselves,” he said.

He warned that the consequences of the downturn could result in more companies using temporary staff and having employees leave, which could both be points of vulnerability in the network.

“Security remains an important topic for any business and in a downturn scenario some customers are looking for efficiencies and are putting more emphasis on the Internet,” he said.

But he remained upbeat about the prospects for the future, although not going as far as some in the sector that have used the word “immune” to describe the chances of the recession hitting the market.

“We see relatively slower growth in IT security but we will be better off than other segments,” he added.

Recent interviews in MicroScope with Nick Lowe, regional director for Northern Europe at Check Point, and Andrew Bradshaw, vice-president for the UK at Sophos, have also included references to the optimism in the security market.

“I do not think business will stop buying security (in the current economic climate) but they will be looking to reduce spending and budgets. So they want simplification because lots of different agents cost money to manage,” said Bradshaw.