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What is your take on managed services business?
Check Point has had MSP services for a while, but we had to wait for the market to mature before we could introduce them in India. Security is something that most customers are very concerned about and they are all the more worried about outsourcing it. This is also because India does not have any strong compliance laws.

But now the maturity has seeped in. Customers have also realized that rather than taking products from various vendors, its better to have one solution partner for all their infrastructure needs.

Among UTM and standalone devices, which one do you think will cannibalize the other?
I believe that UTM is a single point of failure. The best analogy to explain this is a mobile phone which offer cameras, music players, email access, GPS, etc. But the most important usage of the phone is still to make and receive calls. If that function is not there, then it does not have much utility.

Using the same example, you might use your mobile phone to capture photos of your kids. But if its their wedding you will not risk taking the photos on your mobile phone; you will arrange for a professional photographer to cover the event. Thus, a standalone solution UTM is not enough. Customers need to understand when they need to buy UTM devices and when they should go for stand alone solutions.

We always advise our customers to opt for a security product that best addresses their needs, irrespective of whether it is a standalone device or a UTM devices.

What about endpoint security, which most security vendors are bullish about these days?
We realized that loss of data would be one of the biggest security threats to customers in the future. This is why around two years ago, we acquired Pointsec. We were also the first company to come out with a single desktop agent which takes care of data security. Administrators of large enterprises, which have over several thousand users globally, find it challenging to ensure that these users have the right security policies. With our solutions the administrator has more control in reporting and managing the network.

Check Point is three generations ahead of its competition in management, which is all about consolidating, analyzing and having a clear security report.

What is the biggest challenge you faced in India?
There was a time when customers would ask us that they were investing millions of rupees but did not see any tangible product. This is because it was the same server, and we would just give a license and it would work. That was the biggest challenge that we faced, when customers said that they wanted to see some products before they would pay.

There was also a time when distributors would say that they were happy with our solution and demanded a bigger box so that they could justify their management about making the purchase. Over the years we have overcome these challenges.

Vinita Bhatia/DQ Channels
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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