Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1 October 2003 - VIA NET.WORKS, a leading provider of business communication solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises, is launching VIA Firewall Management Services to enable resellers of WatchGuard® SOHO and Firebox® firewall appliances to deliver a fully-managed security solution to end-users. The new service offers management and monitoring of customer-owned firewalls by VIA security experts from its Security Network Operation Centre on a 24x7x365 basis.
VIA Firewall Management Service is designed to complement and add value to the services offered by WatchGuard authorised resellers whose clients prefer to purchase the firewall hardware. “Adding a cost-effective management-only service extends our security solutions to a wider channel base,” said Dick Theunissen, VP of Product & Marketing at VIA NET.WORKS. “By working together with VIA, resellers can offer customers real peace of mind and gain recurring revenue streams without investing heavily in additional skilled security staff and platforms.”
Michelle Jones, Marketing Director EMEA, WatchGuard Technologies, said: “VIA is an experienced provider of managed security services, having worked with WatchGuard since 2000. VIA’s Security Centre is dedicated to supporting WatchGuard technologies, making their latest Firewall Management Service an ideal offering to our resellers.”
VIA Firewall Management Services are backed up by strong service level agreements and includes 24 x 7 x 365 monitoring of clients’ firewalls, helpdesk support, installation of security updates and patches, configuration changes on request, regular reports and analyses on firewall incidents and activities and security incident escalation procedures.
Availability
VIA Firewall Management Services are available to resellers immediately in the UK and throughout VIA's other operations in October 2003.
Notes for Editors
According to a recent Datamonitor report, Global network security markets: an evolving market, global investment in eSecurity services will total $14.5bn by 2005 with outsourced security services accounting for 20% of security service revenues. Datamonitor stated that as IT managers face up to the realities of managing a complex security architecture, they may turn to one of the many managed security service providers offering them the chance to outsource the management and monitoring of such solutions as firewalls, VPN and IDS.
About VIA NET.WORKS Inc.
VIA NET.WORKS, Inc. (Nasdaq, Euronext: VNWI) is a leading provider of business communication solutions to small and medium-sized businesses in Europe and the United States. VIA’s local operations offer a comprehensive portfolio of flexible and reliable managed services including internet access, DSL and lease line connectivity, VPNs, hosting, security, applications and voice. Through its bundled solutions and market-specific partner relationships, VIA is in a unique position to deliver long-term value-added services to its many customers. For further information, please visit our website: www.vianetworks.com
WatchGuard and Firebox are registered trademarks of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries.
Press Contacts:
Piers Schreiber
VIA NET.WORKS, Inc.
Tel: +31 (0)65 535 8087
Fax: +31 (0)20 502 0001
Email: pschreiber@vianetworks.com
Michelle Jones
WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
Tel: +44(0) 1737 735533
Fax: +44(0) 1737 735001
Email: michelle.jones@watchguard.com