Astaro, a Sophos company and leading Unified Threat Management provider, announced the availability of version 2 of Astaro RED 10 appliance. The new version of the celebrated branch office security hardware appliance offers additional features which make securing remote locations even easier and helps avoid potential lapses in security due to downtime. Astaro RED is the first security solution to offer complete and centrally managed Unified Threat Management and has been recognised as a revolutionary method for securing branch offices. It empowers organisations to connect their remote locations to a central location (headquarters) within minutes and without onsite technical expertise.
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ChannelTech Middle East and Africa (CTMEA) talks to Andy Zollo, vice president, SonicWALL EMEA on the vendor’s plans to pioneer new initiatives in the MEA region. A lot has been said about 2011, what is SonicWALL’s main focus for the MEA channel this year? SonicWALL views the Middle East and Africa region as the fastest growing geography that the company covers and that’s why we have put in and will continue to invest in the channel in this emerging market. The investments we have been making relate to technical resource and support, as well as marketing and brand awareness channel initiatives. For instance, we’re just starting a technical resource in Saudi which will be established soon and provide on the ground in-country support. We’re also looking for a direct touch because, as we expand into the enterprise market and we need more of that customer touch ourselves so that the channel should deliver on the opportunity. It’s all about providing comprehensive support to our channel ecosystem and getting the balance. Overall, the partner landscape needs to be balanced with distributors to improve our market reach and base. They’re two types of distributors we engage with and these are typically those who adopt the SMB range of products and enterprise focused partners that engage with top tier system integrators, VARs, and solution providers. We have a clear global two tier channel policy and everything goes through the channel. Even as we deploy direct touch, the channel can be reassured that everything goes through distribution and all those direct touch initiations are passed on to channel partners to fulfill the deals.Read More…

UK based security and data protection company Sophos, today said it has agreed to buy Astaro, a privately held provider of network security solutions. The market for multi-function security appliances has continued to grow because organizations of all sizes want better protection against security threats and need to support their users and distributed workplaces in a comprehensive, easy to use, efficient way. According to IDC, the market for unified threat management was approximately $2 billion worldwide in 2010, with a CAGR of 13% 2010-2014.Read More…