Kaspersky Lab eyes enterprise market

Russian-based antivirus software firm Kaspersky Lab is shifting its focus to the enterprise market this year, after a successful couple of years doing business in the Thai and Southeast Asian consumer markets.

 

The company is adjusting its strategy a little bit this year with the aim of raising the proportion of its revenue from the enterprise market from 35 per cent to 50 per cent of total revenue, said Kaspersky Lab’s channel sales director for Southeast Asia, Jimmy Fong. It aims to double its share of the Thai enterprise market from 15 per cent to 30 per cent by the end of this year.

 

Enterprise customers need total security solutions, rather than just antivirus and Internet security software suites. They need multiple layers of protection, so the company has to offer complete security solutions including virtualisation solutions, SharePoint portals, gateway protection or firewalls, and after-sales support, Fong said.

 

He said Kaspersky Lab has a new set of security products for virtualisation solution protection and SharePoint portals, while the company’s regional business partner, Tech Titan, offers gateway security solutions.

 

"Now, in the Thai market, we have a 15-per-cent market share. This figure is calculated by our distributors. We aim to have overall market share of 30 per cent this year," said Fong.

Currently, its revenue is divided between the consumer market (35 per cent) and enterprise market (65 per cent), but its plan is to bring this ratio to 50:50, not only in Thailand, but also in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

 

"We are already in the small and medium-sized business area. We offer security solutions for corporates who have up to 500 staff members. Our next move is to step into enterprises who have over 500 employees," said Fong.

 

With so many devices being used by organisations nowadays – not only servers and PCs, but also tablets and smartphones – usage of antivirus and security software is changing rapidly, posing a major challenge for enterprises. People who use these smart devices are not prepared to protect themselves from threats attacking these new types of devices connected to the company’s system, Fong said.

 

To secure smart devices, Kaspersky will launch two new products – K One and Kaspersky Tablet Security – by next month. K One is an antivirus and Internet security system for smartphones, tablets, Internet and laptop.

 

Smartphones and tablets are often the "holes" in corporates’ security systems.

"Currently [these products] can support only Android smartphones and Android tablets," said Fong.

He said the top three types of security attacks are theft of personal information, hacking of company servers, and malware.

 

"Thailand is still an important manufacturer for us. Thailand and Indonesia count as the third-largest market in revenue for us. First is Malaysia and second is Vietnam. The Southeast Asian market counts for 30 per cent of our business in Asia-Pacific. We are number one in antivirus software in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia, and we are doing well in Thailand," said Fong.

 

To do business, the company works with local business partners. It has one distributor for consumer markets, iCom, and one for the enterprise market, Go Green.

 

Apart from focusing more on the enterprise market, Fong said the company also continues to concentrate on its strength, which is the consumer market. It also emphasises brand awareness. This year Kaspersky　Lab has appointed Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou as its brand　ambassador for the Asia Pacific region.

 

It also launched two products for the consumer market: Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 (KIS 2012) and Kaspersky Anti Virus 2012.