Panda Security Delivers Up to 50 Percent Cost Savings for Small and Medium Businesses With Security-as-a-Service

New Version of Panda Managed Office Protection Lowers Total Cost of Ownership and Complexity to Keep Organizations Focused on their Core Business

GLENDALE, Calif., March 18 -- Panda Security, a leading global provider of IT security solutions, today announced it has added new functionality to Panda Managed Office Protection(TM), its hosted security-as-a-service (SaaS) solution for small and medium businesses (SMBs) and value added resellers (VARs) serving the SMB market. The new release is up to 50 percent more efficient than traditional endpoint security software offered by leading antivirus companies. Panda Managed Office Protection increases overall business efficiency by eliminating the complexity and cost of maintaining traditional client-server corporate solutions and allowing business owners to concentrate on their organizational success.

Turbulent economic conditions are exerting extreme economic pressure on SMBs to be as efficient and resourceful as possible to maintain their bottom lines. According to recent IDC research figures, a growing number of organizations are opting for easy-to-use, scalable subscription software services that do not require any capital expenditures. The independent market research firm recently increased its SaaS growth projection for 2009 from 36 percent to 40.5 percent growth over 2008.(i)

By combining business user-friendly, hosted management and monitoring with the lightest computing footprint on the market, Panda Managed Office Protection offers one of the industry's most mature SaaS antivirus portfolios that allows organizations to manage their protection anytime from anywhere without additional infrastructure investments. Non-technical business owners are able to configure IT resources for any computer with an Internet connection and assign custom security profiles to every end-device based on individual or departmental requirements. Managed Office Protection is also an excellent tool for VARs looking to offer security services to clients, and businesses that run on a virtual network with computers distributed throughout multiple locations.

The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors in Cupertino, Calif., with over 36 work station computers and servers spread across two locations, implemented Panda Managed Office Protection and instantly noticed the ease-of-use and administration benefits. "Within a mere two hours I was able to install, monitor, and run specialized reports on the security status of more than 36 end-devices without ever having to leave my desk," explained Bob Johnson, IT Administrator, Silicon Valley Association of Realtors. "The simplicity of the hosted management portal allows us to scan and fix any security issues from anywhere, at anytime via a basic internet connection. We can now dedicate more time to other pressing projects and customer service, plus rest assured that virus signatures are continually updated via Panda's Collective Intelligence solution."

Panda Managed Office Protection Version 5.03 offers the following improved features and benefits:

  --  Optimized Management of Endpoint Protection - the new and improved
      Web-based management console allows administrators to more efficiently
      resolve deployment challenges remotely from one centralized dashboard
      for any computer that has an Internet connection.
  --  Increased Reporting Flexibility - administrators are able to select
      from an expanded set of security reports, including executive,
      activity and detection reports, with greater frequency flexibility.
  --  Easier Software Deployment - IT managers can leverage the greater
      coverage of automatic uninstallers along with unique MAC addresses to
      facilitate a more customized deployment of personalized security
      settings to each end-device.
  --  Simplified Computer Management - the detection and protection status
      of end devices is easier to monitor and manage with expanded search
      capabilities and the ability to run and export reports for analysis
      with third party analytical tools.
  --  Improved Service Management - IT managers are able to better service
      infected or threatened end-devices thanks to new advanced search
      functions for computers and detections.
  --  Superior Client Network Status Control - VARs providing security
      services to SMB clients have remote access via the service provider
      administration console to centrally manage any update on every device
      in the client network.


  Maximum Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) with Panda Managed Office Protection

Businesses need to consider multiple factors when conducting a TCO analysis related to desktop malware protection. These include capital expenses, design and deployment costs, ongoing infrastructure, operations and support expenses, and myriad intangible costs such as interoperability and scalability. The results of a comprehensive TCO comparison between Panda Managed Office Protection and three leading traditional endpoint security offerings for a 50 seat business revealed that savings generated by SaaS could exceed 50 percent. The full TCO study can be downloaded here: http://support.us.pandasecurity.com/Corporate/tco_en.pdf

"Given the grim economic outlook and the correlated rise in malware attacks, SMBs need to continue protecting their IT infrastructure while relying on fewer fixed costs and human resources," said Carlos Zevallos, Security Evangelist and Threat Researcher, Panda Security. "Without a dedicated internal IT department and a tendency for multitasking, SMB owners value cost efficiency and insured productivity as essential product attributes in IT security solutions. Based on feedback from Panda's customers and our comprehensive TCO comparison, it's clear that business owners and IT administrators need to make the evolution from traditional antivirus to SaaS."

Pricing and Availability

Panda Managed Office Protection is available to the general public effective immediately. Licenses are sold by the seat in one-, two- and three-year subscription packages and vary depending on the number of seats purchased. To get started please visit http://www.pandamop.com/.

About Panda Security

Panda Security is one of the world's leading IT security providers, with millions of clients around the globe and products available in over twenty languages. Our mission is to keep our customers' information and IT assets safe from security threats, giving them the most effective protection with the minimum resource consumption.

Every day, thousands of new malicious codes are created. To combat this threat, Panda Security has developed an innovative and unique security model which can automatically analyze and classify thousands of new malware samples. This model is collective intelligence and ensures that Panda Security solutions can protect against far more threats than the products of any other company. The exceptional detection capacity of collective intelligence can be put to the test at the Infected or Not website (http://www.infectedornot.com/)

For more information and evaluation versions of all Panda Security solutions, visit our website at: http://www.pandasecurity.com/

(i) IDC. (Jan. 26, 2009). Software as a Service Market Will Expand Rather than Contract Despite the Economic Crisis, IDC Finds. http://idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS21641409