Johnson: Nick, I honestly believe that in a fast-break virus scenario -- many of which we have both seen over the years -- any business utilising a managed/hosted solution such as MessageLabs or MailGuard is going to be in a stronger position than one that is reliant on the haphazard updates of a single vendor desktop or gateway solution.
| "The fact that we both statistically analyse millions of e-mails every day is difficult to match with a piece of software that someone might accidentally turn off!" Andrew Johnson, Marketing Director, MailGuard |
The use of sophisticated heuristics (Skeptic and Guardian), multiple antivirus engines -- with direct liaison with AV data centres, along with the fact that we both statistically analyse millions of e-mails every day is difficult to match with a piece of software that someone might accidentally turn off!
Having said this, it is still important for organisations to continue to operate desktop antivirus solutions. Although our services provide a first-line defence -- it is still possible for someone to walk in with an infected CD, USB memory key, or laptop and deliver a viral payload to an unprotected network.
Johnson: Symantec has recently launched its "Hosted Mail Security Solution" to filter spam and virus threats from e-mail traffic. Do you see such global competitors making solid inroads into the Australian market? And how does the MessageLabs service compete?
Hawkins:
Symantec is already the dominant player in e-mail threat solutions, primarily with desktop and gateway offerings. Its move into the managed services market is good for the industry as it validates the model. As a direct competitor it has some work to do as, according to our latest information, its infrastructure is located only in North America. Global and enterprise clients value a true distributed infrastructure to give effective protection against worldwide threats. Only MessageLabs delivers this on a global scale today.
Hawkins:
In your recent move from Melbourne to Sydney, does that mean League now takes precedence over AFL?
Johnson:
I think I was lucky, in that when the Australian Football League (AFL) and the majority of the AFL teams implemented the MailGuard service, their IT partners tended to take care of many of the League teams too. So now I don't have to choose! I suppose this means we should start talking with the Union teams to support our Brisbane office!
Hawkins: My colleagues have driven such cars, but they're a little slow, jet fighters are more my thing!
This article was first published in Technology & Business magazine.
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