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KASPERSKY: We’re going to pay more attention to the Middle East and increase our investment and partner network in the region.

Kaspersky is turning the heat up on the Middle East market and has renewed its commitment to chasing after the region's enterprises. Nathan Statz caught up with Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and founder of the anti-malware vendor in Dubrovnik, Croatia, to find out how the strategy is being carried out.

Taking aim at the enterprise market is a juicy plum for vendors who have successfully foraged through the consumer market and are looking for a bigger slice of the pie. In the case of Kaspersky, the anti-malware company made its intentions known just over a year ago before trudging further into the Middle Eastern market with a taste for growth.

That hunger lead to the opening of the Russian-based company's first office in the Middle East and a firm commitment to bringing more enterprises into the Kaspersky customer ecosystem.

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO and founder of the company which bears his name explains that it is easier to increase market share in an emerging market because competitors aren't keeping as keen an eye on those regions as they do in their home markets.

"For example, in Latin America it is market number 18 for them, that is why our presence is more visible and that's why the local enterprises pay more attention to us and it is the same in the Middle East," he says.

Kaspersky has laid down plans for growth in the Middle East, with long-term aims to boost the company's existing partner network and presence in the region.

"We're going to pay more attention to [the Middle East] and we're investing in our office development and technical support, so we have localisation to the major languages. At a time of financial crisis, our competitors will pay more attention to their main market but the main market for them is their domestic segment in the United States," explains Kaspersky.

"These companies, they will pay attention to their domestic market and protect it so their other markets will be treated with less importance. Where for us it is the opposite because our domestic market, the Russian market, is not a major one for us so we're more diversified in other regions."

According to Kaspersky, the reason for going after Middle Eastern enterprises is because the consumer market is not as well developed and this is helped along by the trust afforded by companies from Eastern Europe's biggest fish.

"Our Russian origin also helps as they see Russian [companies] and they are quite accepted. You don't need to explain why Russian - there are no other questions. In Europe we have to explain why we are a Russian company - that was 15 years back and they were like ‘what are you doing here? Why do you think you will have success?"

While it is easy to say you are targeting enterprises, it is somewhat more challenging to actually pull the trigger and let your well-concocted strategy loose on the market, particularly in the security arena.

"If you buy any other product you just buy software and you don't need to trust the company. When you buy security solutions - doesn't matter if it is software, hardware, [or if] it's not IT - when talking about security that is trust," explains Kaspersky.

"If you don't trust the vendor, you won't buy security from them and that's why we're paying a lot of attention to this and a lot of resources on brand development. We are starting with the brand development, we are coming to the exhibitions, we are talking to press, we are just trying to prove that we're a transparent company, you may ask any question and we will provide answers," he adds.

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